Pinellas County staff recommends against Friendship Trail Bridge proposal

During a budget workshop review of capital projects Tuesday afternoon, two Pinellas County staff members recommended against the new Friendship Trail Bridge proposal unveiled last week. Members of the coalition trying to save the bridge expressed disappointment that staffers had not spoken with them before drawing these conclusions, and pointed out that at least one of the staffers' objections had already been answered in the plan.

The objections came during a discussion of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) with County Commissioners.

Public Works Director Pete Yauch and Jorge Quintas, director of the county's public works engineering division, said that they did not believe the plan was viable from either an engineering or a cost perspective. They will recommend that the county not support the plan when they present a formal report next week.

This article appears in May 10-16, 2012.