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THE BRADENTON HERALD

Wednesday, November 22, 1995 Section: Front Edition: Final Page: F1 BUSINESS OWNERS HAPPY CORTEZ BRIDGE REOPENING Kevin McDonald, Herald Staff Writer The Cortez Bridge will reopen today by 6 p.m., according to the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). ``I'm sure (the business owners near the bridge) are glad to have the bridge open,'' said Don Maxwell, DOT resident construction engineer. ``Hopefully traffic will start to pick up and they will be able to recover some of their losses.''

The bridge has been closed since Oct. 1. Indeed, the news of the reopening was a holiday gift to business owners. Lou Nassar, owner of Cortez Market, 12203 Cortez Road, said he hopes to attract former customers who came from Bradenton Beach before the closing. ``We've waited long enough,'' Nassar said. ``Let's hope for the best.'' Alan O'Maley, general manager of the Beach House restaurant, 200 Gulf Drive N., agreed. ``I think it's great news,'' O'Maley said. ``It's been a long time coming and we are looking forward to it.'' O'Maley said he hoped the bridge's reopening would increase traffic along Gulf Drive, bringing more customers to the restaurant. After the Thanksgiving holidays, the bridge will be closed to one lane intermittently until February. Maxwell said painting and putting up street lights is some of the work that still needs to be done. The DOT's contract with Civil Constructors contains an incentive clause that will pay the contractor a $10,000 a day bonus for each day up to 10 days that the bridge is open ahead of schedule. The structure originally was scheduled to reopen by the end of October, but the contractors discovered lead paint and structural problems. DOT officials then rescheduled the reopening date to Dec. 7. Since the discovery of the problems, crews have worked 10-12 hours daily to complete the project. All of the lead paint has been removed. The contractors also are replacing the draw span's mechanical and electrical parts and the bridge-tender system. Maxwell said message boards along Cortez and Gulf Drive will be reprogrammed to say the bridge is opened. Detour signs temporarily will be covered up, but they will remain in place in case of an emergency.

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