Hillsborough ready again to raze Friendship TrailBridge

TAMPA The long-delayed demolition of the 58-year-old Friendship TrailBridge is back on track and could occur this year.

Hillsborough County commissioners approved a budget amendment Wednesday that includes $6 million for demolition of the former Gandy Bridge span connecting Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Added to money previously appropriated, the county will have up to $10 million to spend on the demolition.

The budget amendment, totaling $13.65 million, also will allow the county to complete improvements to seven intersections and one bridge as well as replacement of three wastewater pumping stations.

The county will get best and final bids from two companies this month for the TrailBridge demolition and will award the contract soon after, said Public Works Director John Lyons. The winning bid is sure to be more than the $5.2 million price one company offered to take down the bridge in 2012, Lyons said.

The old Gandy Bridge was converted to a recreational trail in December 1999. More than 500,000 joggers, cyclists and fishermen used the trail annually. But in 2008, engineers discovered some of the bridges structural steel and the concrete around it were eroding. Fearing someone would get hurt, authorities closed the bridge.

The bridge was slated for demolition in April 2012, but commissioners agreed to delay the action while bridge supporters developed a plan to reconstruct the trail and make it a linear park. The supporters thought they could find a private group that would shoulder most of the cost of developing and operating the bridge. In return, the group could make money through advertising, leases and rentals. The only money the supporters said they needed from the county was the $5.2 million appropriated to raze the bridge.

The deal never materialized, however, and the county had to rebid the demolition.

With the bridges fate nearly sealed, one die-hard defender continued to fight for its survival Wednesday. Neil Cosentino, a member of the committee that saved the bridge from a wrecking ball in 1997, argued its structure is safe. Cosentino even invited County Administrator Mike Merrill and commissioners to walk the bridge with him so he could prove its durability.

If we find anything wrong with the bridge, Ill buy (Merrill) any dinner he wants at Berns Steak House, Cosentino said. I also invite commissioners to do the same after we take the first walk to make sure the bridge is safe. Im absolutely sure the bridge is safe.

The road, bridge and wastewater improvements approved Wednesday will be funded out of property tax capital reserve funds and reserves from impact fees paid by developers to cover transportation improvements near their developments. Lyons said the projects will be put out for bids in May, June and July and should be under contract in the fall.

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Hillsborough ready again to raze Friendship TrailBridge