Plans are accelerating for a shuttle to transport people from Coquina Beach to Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach.
Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency members voted 5-0 March 4 to direct CRA member Jake Spooner, also a city commissioner, to work with city attorney Ricinda Perry and city engineer Lynn Burnett to plan the tram’s path.
The motion directs Burnett to reconfigure parking along Cortez Beach to accommodate the pathway, which would stretch alongside Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach to Fifth Street South, then along Bay Drive South to Bridge Street, and to the Bradenton Beach Marina.
The current head-in/back-out parking perpendicular to Gulf Drive would be angled so a southbound driver would pull off State Road 789 and back into a spot.
Burnett said a back-in/head-out reconfiguration would create room for the tram and improve safety, as drivers would not back out Gulf Drive.
CRA members reached consensus to move forward with the proposed parking if Manatee County and the Florida Department of Transportation approve.