Cortez Bridge Construction: What to Expect on Your Drive

If you’ve driven out Cortez Road toward Bradenton Beach since summer, you’ve seen the equipment piling up where the Seafood Shack used to be. It showed up months before the bridge had a firm start date. That tells you a lot about how this project is going to go.

FDOT is replacing the 1956 drawbridge with a $123 million fixed-span bridge, and construction starts in early November. It was supposed to start this summer, but FDOT waited on the county to finish its water main work under the bridge. The contractor is SEMA Construction.

For the next year and a half or so, most of the action is on land in Cortez. Your drive to the beach changes a lot less.

The staging lot is official
That fenced-off lot is SEMA’s home base for the next four years. The county signed off in October. It will hold equipment, materials, trailers, contractor parking and crane access. A second staging area sits north of the humpback bridge on 127th Street West. Keeping the big trucks there means they aren’t backing in and out of the tight space at the foot of the bridge. The final deal also keeps construction out of the Tide Tables parking lot, which the restaurant pushed for.

Neighbors near the lots aren’t against the bridge. Their concern is getting in and out of their own homes for four years, and that’s fair.

What changes on the drive, and when

• Now: Crews set up. You drive the same bridge in the same lanes.
• By the end of 2026: Traffic shifts slightly south at both ends of the bridge so crews can build the new northern half. Same old bridge, just nudged over.
• Mid-2028: Traffic moves onto the new northern half. The old drawbridge comes down, and crews build the rest of the new one.
• Late 2029: Done.

FDOT doesn’t expect daytime lane closures, and boats shouldn’t be affected. Beach days, dinner on Bridge Street, and boats through the channel are all business as usual.

Those late-night cones? Probably not the bridge.
Overnight lane and sidewalk closures on the Cortez Bridge this fall may belong to a different job. Several area bridges are getting new pedestrian and bike detection systems. Rule of thumb: if the cones are gone by sunrise, it’s probably the detection work.

What the finished bridge changes
Today’s drawbridge sits about 22 feet above the water and has to open for taller boats. The new one sits 65 feet up, so most boats go underneath and the bridge never opens. If you’ve ever sat at the Cortez drawbridge watching it go up (and up, and up), you’ll appreciate that. Just not until the end of the decade.

A new street on the Cortez side
Phase 1 includes Hunters Point Way, a short new road connecting Cortez Road to 127th Street West on the mainland side. It gives the businesses and homes near the bridge their own way in once the new approach is built. Tide Tables and its neighbors are open now and easy to reach from Cortez Road. They just have a construction site next door. Go have lunch.

What FDOT hasn’t said yet

• A drawbridge opening schedule during construction.
• A walking and biking plan for the construction period.

If you cross on a bike, on foot, or under it in a boat, now’s the time to ask. Questions go through FDOT’s Cortez Bridge project page.

Why I’m paying attention
I sell homes in Bradenton, Cortez, Anna Maria Island, Palmetto, Parrish and Lakewood Ranch, and this bridge touches more of them than you’d think. A four-year project near Cortez Road is something buyers ask about and sellers worry about. If you own near the bridge or have your eye on something that does, I’ll tell you what it really means for that property. No pressure, no chasing. Let’s chat when you’re ready.