- January 10, 2025
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Residents of the Parrish and Lakewood Ranch areas remain unconvinced that traffic on either side of the Fort Hamer Bridge will ease despite Manatee County’s multi-million dollar efforts to widen the roadways.
Work to widen Upper Manatee River Road from State Road 64 to the Fort Hamer bridge began in August. The corridor is anticipated to be four lanes by fall 2027 and cost approximately $25.7 million.
Manatee County staff members held a public hearing Dec. 4 at Parrish United Methodist Church to present a $190.5 million plan to widen Fort Hamer Road from Upper Manatee River Road to U.S. 301. The bridge portion of the project would cost $77 million alone. Construction would begin in 2028.
The proposal includes constructing a second span of the bridge to four-lane the entire 3.8 mile corridor.
Greyhawk Landing’s Elias Van Schaik attended the meeting with his wife Denise. He said after the road is widened, it will only take five years before the county needs to increase the capacity again to accommodate all the housing that will have been built in the corridor.
“We’re having difficulty getting into our development now,” Denise Van Schaik said. “Upper Manatee River Road is going to be more congested the more they build.”
Residents on both sides of the bridge matched the Van Schaik’s sentiments.
Twin Rivers’ Tom Thayer moved to Parrish four years ago from Fairfax County, Virginia, which is outside of Washington, DC. He said the area is completely gridlocked because the county built on every vacant piece of land.
“I see that happening down here,” Thayer said. “They need to put the breaks on. We’re going to have people stacked on top of people just like Fairfax County.”
Thayer’s not opposed to the road being widened. He said the road needs more lanes, but he thinks putting houses on half-acre lots instead of quarter-acre lots would make more of an impact on easing the congestion.
Beyond two extra lanes, the road will also incorporate a raised median, roundabouts, bicycle lanes, a shared use path on one side and a sidewalk on the other.
The roundabouts will be located at Rive Isle Run, Mulholland Road, Old Tampa Road and Golf Course Road.
The project is still in the early stages of a Project Development and Environment Study, which identifies potential improvements, conducts studies and seeks public input. The studies evaluate issues such as noise, traffic, water quality and bridge hydraulics.
The state funded $5.5 million for the study and design. The study cost $1.2 million and is expected to be complete in June 2025. Right-of-way acquisitions and construction have not been funded yet.
County staff submitted a grant application to the United States Department of Transportation in October totaling $61.6 million to go toward the bridge construction.
Ogden Clark, Public Works’ communications coordinator, said the county has a good case to justify state funding of the project. Running parallel to Interstate 75 makes it a “vitally important” route.
“In a time of mass evacuation, you need both of those roads to be able to get people out,” Clark said.
On the other hand, Elias Van Schaik said the close proximity to the interstate might be attractive to motorists trying to find an alternate route and draw even more cars to Fort Hamer and Upper Manatee River roads.
Clark agreed that when accidents occur, the route could see an uptick of cars, but on most days, he said the increased capacity will cater to locals.
“A lot of folks are concerned that (four lanes) are not going to be enough,” Clark said, “But short of being able to add really expensive overpasses or expressways, there’s not many options other than adding capacity on the existing roads.”
Thayer said he definitely doesn’t want to see Fort Hamer turn into a six-lane road. And Commissioner George Kruse said six lanes will never happen because the county would have to take people’s homes and businesses for the right of way.
Waterlefe resident Kirk Birrell is most concerned about the noise a second bridge will create. He can hear tires hitting the grooves of the one bridge now.
He loves the idea of a pedestrian walkway over the bridge, but fears it will be too noisy to enjoy. He suggested a noise barrier between the roadway and the walkway.
Anthony Sciullo lives off of Jim Davis Road. He has bigger concerns than the traffic the project will or will not alleviate. He called traffic a “nuisance,” but said water will kill people.
Sciullo’s house flooded after Hurricane Debby in early August. He said as more developments and roadways are being built higher in surrounding areas, it’s creating a “bowl” of low lying areas.
“I’m still waiting for the results of the Lake Manatee failures from Hurricane Debby,” Sciullo said. “Those failures, as well as the historic storms that we’ve had, are all spikes in the averages. They need to be taken into consideration for any project, whether it’s a roadway project or a development project.”
Clark said the county should be receiving and sharing the independent report with the public by February.
