MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Drivers crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge are still seeing congestion near the toll plazas, even after the bridge went cashless.<\/p>\n
The backups are often seen northbound in the morning near the toll plaza on the Manatee County side of the bridge and southbound in the afternoon near the toll plaza on the Pinellas County side.<\/p>\n
Jim Shriner, who said he has commuted over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge nearly every day for the past seven years, said delays near the toll areas remain a regular issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not unusual, depending on the time of the year, to have a three- or four-mile-long backup waiting at the tollbooth,\u201d Shriner said.<\/p>\n
Shriner reached out to Real Time Traffic Expert Tim Wronka, concerned that the empty toll structures still affect traffic because drivers must slow down and merge as they pass through.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you\u2019re aware of it, you still have to slow down to 25 mph and merge three lanes or four lanes into two,\u201d Shriner said. \u201cAnd then when you have tourists who haven\u2019t taken this route before, they kind of freak out and then it just backs up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials said that the long-term goal is to remove the toll booths, but funding has not yet been secured.<\/p>\n
So before that happens, crews are preparing to start a resurfacing project that will include new lane markings intended to improve traffic flow through the plazas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do want to tear down the toll gantry; that would be the ultimate goal,\u201d said Kris Carson with FDOT. \u201cBut until we find the funding, this resurfacing project is going to change the striping out there. That really should help with some of the traffic flow.\u201d<\/p>\n
FDOT said the lane modifications will allow traffic to use the previous SunPass lanes and keep larger vehicles to the right.<\/p>\n
Shriner said he hopes the striping changes help, but he believes removing the toll structures would be the best solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, the obvious solution is more lanes, but you can\u2019t put more lanes on that bridge,\u201d Shriner said. \u201cSo if you could get rid of the toll booths, bulldoze them, and make that a regular four-lane interstate on both sides, that will eliminate a distraction for a lot of people who have to slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n