BRADENTON, Fla. — “I was sitting in my office one night, and a guy was walking down the alleyway urinating,” says Leyon Robinson, for whom it was a common occurrence. The small pedestrian alleyway paved with bricks is lined with chairs for coffee drinkers during the day. At night, Main Street merchants are complaining about people using the alley as a bathroom, for both number 1 and number 2.
The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will now spend a little more than $11,000 to secure the alley at night with two electronic gates. One merchant whose business borders the alley applauds the idea.