Wares Creek Dredging Takes Tiny Step Forward

It may seem like just one small step, but considering how long the dredging of Wares Creek has been delayed, it was a giant leap.

Last Monday's removal of a 1959 phone cable from the depths of the clogged Bradenton waterway marks the first significant work done there in decades, said City Councilman Patrick Roff, whose Ward 3 includes much of the historic neighborhood around Wares Creek.

"It's the first actual physical step" in a dredging project that has been held up for more than a quarter century, Roff said.

The $45 million flood-control project is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is in final negotiations with a contractor from Louisiana for the first phase of the work.

The initial phase will cost in the $3.5 million to $4 million range and will include dredging of a section of the creek from its mouth at the Manatee River to Ninth Avenue West.

Roff said he was hoping for a signed contract last week, but the contractor wanted to add a $650,000 piece of equipment to the job that took the project out of its expected price range. The Corps of Engineers scratched that idea.

Work could begin within 30 days — possibly even the next day — after an agreement is reached, Roff said, and bidding would then begin on phase 2 of the project. An agreement could come any day.

"This thing is ready to pop," Roff said.

The dredging is fully funded, with about half coming from the federal government and the rest a mix of state, county and city dollars. It is also fully permitted, Roff said.

Last Monday, a Verizon crew dug up a piece of four-inch copper cable from the creek that stretched from Sixth Avenue West to the DeSoto Towers building and was once a GTE phone line.

Citizens who want to get involved in cleanup work at Wares Creek are invited to take part from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday as part of the Great American Cleanup Countywide. Volunteers can meet at Sixth Avenue West and Virginia Drive in the Historic Wares Creek neighborhood and should bring gloves and closed-toe shoes. Cleanup supplies and snacks will be provided.

For more information, contact Keep Manatee Beautiful at keep@manateebeautiful.com or 941-795-8272.