How do you reach this Florida beach with a parking crunch? There’s a way around that

James A. Jones Jr.
·2 min read
5

County leaders are looking for any relief they can find to Anna Maria Island’s worsening traffic and a shortage of beach parking.

Manatee County’s Coquina Beach parking lot project, which is nearing completion, will provide an estimated 1,000 parking spaces, the single largest concentration of visitor parking on Anna Maria Island.

In conjunction with the parking project, plans are underway to renovate the Coquina Beach Trail, an eight-foot wide asphalt trail running 1 1/2 miles along the beachfront.

Manatee County Tourist Development Council members are interested in learning whether it might be feasible to add a parallel trail at Coquina Beach.

The proposed trail could be used for a possible jitney service — a type of golf cart — to transport beachgoers up and down the beach.

The licensed carts could carry up to six passengers. But that’s not to say that just any golf cart could use the proposed trail.

Manatee considers beach ride service

The proposed jitney service could also serve water taxi passengers, said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The county’s planned water taxi service could start as early as July, including a stop at Coquina Beach.

“The bottom line is Coquina Beach is where a lot of our visitors will be able to use the beach,” said County Commissioner James Satcher, who chairs the tourist development council.

County staff is expected to do more research on a possible jitney trail and bring it back to the tourism board.

The Florida Department of Transportation estimates that between 2017 and 2021, traffic on Anna Maria Island’s Gulf Drive from Cortez Road north to Manatee Avenue increased from 9,500 cars a day to 11,200. Figures for 2022 are not available.

Coquina Trail project

Cost: The Coquina Trail project is estimated to cost $1.5 million, take eight months to complete and require the removal of 96 Australian pines, which are damaging the trail.

Trees: The Australian pines would be replaced with black olive and other types of trees.

Parking lot: Approximately 200 Australian pines were removed for the Coquina Beach parking lot project.

The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
The trail along Coquina Beach near the North Coquina parking lot where visitors can enjoy a bit of shade from the Australian pines, trees that have been the subject of much debate. There are also many picnic tables along the trail.
07/14/21—Higher levels of Karenia brevis, the algae that causes red tide, have been detected in the waters near Longboat Pass. Red tide so far has not come into the shallows of Coquina Beach.
07/14/21—Higher levels of Karenia brevis, the algae that causes red tide, have been detected in the waters near Longboat Pass. Red tide so far has not come into the shallows of Coquina Beach.