"When it's out of season, I feel like we all get to breathe a little bit," Scott Pollard of the Cortez Fish Market told MySuncoast in September. He was describing the stretch when a passing boat and a raised drawbridge stop backing Cortez Road up for 10 minutes at a time.
That quiet stretch has started. This year it lines up with the start of the $123 million Cortez Bridge replacement. The Florida Department of Transportation, FDOT, has written that project so the village's daytime routines keep running. Through the end of 2026, most of the visible activity will be concentrated on the north side of the bridge, at the lot where the Seafood Shack used to be.
Claws Are Back at the Docks
Florida's stone crab season opened October 15 and runs through May 1, 2027, according to the Suncoast Post. By the Thursday this post goes live, the season is two weeks old. Two weeks is long enough for the first claws to reach the village's own counters.
- Star Fish Company lists stone crab claws "landed by Cortez boats" at market price on its restaurant menu, in season October 15 through May 1.
- Swordfish Grill & Tiki Bar posted in late October that "We do have some claws! Available while supplies last!" on the social feed shown on its website.
- A.P. Bell Fish Company also sends stone crab claws inland. Bay News 9 reported in April that Detwiler's Farm Market buys claws from the century-old family business, along with swordfish, grouper, king mackerel and red snapper.
- Cortez Bait & Seafood at 12110 Cortez Road W. launched a new website in June that links its retail market to its wholesale side, according to the Suncoast Post.
Claw supply changes with every boat that comes in, and "market price" means just that. Call before you drive over.
Cortez Road has also gained a new place to watch a game this fall. Tailgatin' Sports Tavern opened at 12012 Cortez Road on August 22, after a soft opening the night before. The space was most recently Izzy's Place and before that Slicker's Eatery, the AMI Sun reported. Co-owner Tonya Lutz told the paper, "We want you to walk in and we know your name." When the story ran, the tavern was serving a limited menu, with a full menu coming.
Sema's Yard Sits on the Old Seafood Shack Lot
The Seafood Shack property is the first part of Cortez to change. On October 20, Manatee County commissioners approved a 48-month license that lets FDOT's contractor, Sema Construction, use part of that county-owned land. The license covers staging, material storage, contractor parking, office trailers and crane access, MySuncoast reported. The yard had already been growing since mid-summer under a temporary right of entry issued June 16.
The final agreement includes a few terms that matter to the block around it. According to the same report:
- Sema uses a smaller piece of the county property than earlier versions of the deal allowed.
- Sema builds the county's ferry boat parking, storage and fueling area at its own cost.
- Sema removes the existing house at 4327 127th Street West at its own cost.
- Large equipment stages next to the bridge, so it does not have to keep backing into and out of the narrow FDOT right-of-way.
People nearby are split. Mark Silagy, a board member of the Concerned Citizens for Cortez Coalition, told MySuncoast that neighbors do not object to the bridge. Their objection is to how the staging plan was arranged and what it could mean for getting to their homes each day. Karen Bell, a partner at Tide Tables, said in the same report, "We are all going to have to deal with some discomfort for a little while. In the long run it is going to benefit all of us."
What the Schedule Says, Date by Date
Work on the bridge itself has not started yet. In September, the project was described as beginning "this month." Then the Observer reported on October 13 that FDOT had pushed the start to November so Manatee County could finish its water main work tied to the bridge. The original plan was a summer start. A navigation notice based on Coast Guard information, posted by Waterway Guide, puts the start at November 1. That is this Sunday.
| Milestone | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Start of work | Scheduled for November 1, 2026 | Coast Guard notice via Waterway Guide |
| Phase 1 | Build the north half of the new bridge next to the 1956 drawbridge, plus the new Hunters Point Way connection | FDOT, Observer |
| Phase 1 traffic shift | Approaches move slightly south, expected by the end of 2026 | FDOT project page |
| Phase 2 traffic shift | Traffic moves onto the new half, old span comes down, expected mid-2028 | FDOT project page |
| Projected completion | December 24, 2029, about 1,200 days of work | Coast Guard notice, FDOT |
| Finished bridge | Fixed span, 65 feet of vertical clearance, 100 feet horizontal between fenders | Coast Guard notice |
FDOT's project page says the work runs from Gulf Drive to 123rd Street West, about 0.9 mile. Crews will work from barges and temporary trestles. The Observer cites an FDOT fact sheet saying daytime lane closures are not expected and marine traffic will not be affected. The Coast Guard notice also says no navigation impacts are expected at this point. It places a work trestle on the northeast side of the existing bridge and promises advance notice if that changes.
Two kinds of roadwork on Cortez Road this fall come from other projects. A districtwide FDOT project covering movable bridges, including the Cortez Road drawbridge, calls for intermittent overnight lane closures from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Separate permit work closed lanes between 75th and 86th Street West through the end of October. Both appear in the Sarasota/Manatee MPO's traffic watch. Overnight cones on the drawbridge are most likely tied to that movable-bridge project.
The drawbridge still opens for boats until Phase 2, so the quiet season is still the easiest time to cross.
The Museum's Calendar Has Moved Onto the Porches
The Florida Maritime Museum at 4415 119th Street West is the other closed building in the village this fall. Its visit page lists it as temporarily closed for rehabilitation of its 1912 schoolhouse. The programs are still running, mostly on porches, in borrowed rooms and in a library.
Upcoming Folk School classes:
- Cold Process Soap Making, Tuesday, November 3
- Cook Your Catch: From Filet to Fabulous, Thursday, November 5
- Mosaics with Margo, Friday, November 13
- Paint a Vintage Style Wooden Buoy Workshop, Saturday, November 14
- Mastering the Art of Sourdough, Tuesday, November 17
Cook Your Catch lands three weeks into stone crab season. The buoy workshop falls on the same Saturday as the next porch session.
Music on the Porch is a free acoustic jam from 2 to 4 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays. Anyone is welcome to listen or bring an instrument and play. On November 14 it meets on the Burton Store porch as usual. The November 28 and December 26 sessions are canceled for the holidays. On December 12 the jam moves to the Schoolhouse front porch, because that afternoon also hosts Christmas in Cortez. That free family festival runs from noon to 3 p.m. with crafts, children's activities and Santa. The museum building stays closed during the event.
If you have guests in town, the museum's traveling exhibit "Vacationing in Cortez: Greetings from Old Florida" is on the second floor of Central Library. It has been there since September 1. The exhibit covers the village's charter fishing trade and the Albion Inn.
The museum's pages are not dated, so check its site before planning a day around a class. The FISH Preserve's big event, the Commercial Fishing Festival, is on Presidents Day weekend in February, according to FISH.
Two Saturdays to Circle
Two Saturdays bring the fall's pieces together:
- Saturday, November 14. Paint a buoy at the Folk School, then hear the porch jam at the Burton Store from 2 to 4 p.m. Sema's work will be about two weeks old by then, if it starts November 1.
- Saturday, December 12. Christmas in Cortez runs from noon to 3 p.m., and the jam plays on the Schoolhouse porch from 2 to 4 p.m. If FDOT holds its schedule, the Phase 1 traffic shift at both approaches will be close.
For plans across the bridge, our Anna Maria fall guide covers the other end of the drive.
The bridge work will reach close to Cortez's waterfront over the next four years. If you'd like to talk through what the staging yard, the new connection or the 2028 traffic shift could mean for a home near Cortez Road, Smith Garcia Group is following the project closely. Schedule your market consultation, and we'll walk through the timeline with you street by street.
