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Ellenton’s Prime Outlets Having Slow Day

Posted Jun 5, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Jun 5, 2008 at 03:08 PM

ELLENTON—The Prime Outlets, a favorite destination for bargain-hungry shoppers looking for a break on shoes or name-brand clothes is slow this afternoon. Mall marketers aren’t sure if it’s because of the traffic redirection in light of the closure of Interstate 75 southbound lanes or just a slow Thursday.

Sarah Ozgun, marketing manager said she noticed a reduction in the number of shoppers there today.

“We have definitely seen a decrease in traffic as a result of the accident,” she said.

She is keeping an eye on detour plans hoping they bring motorists closer to the mall at the corner of I-75 and U.S. 301.

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Business Is Slow At Prime Outlets

Posted Jun 5, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Jun 5, 2008 at 03:04 PM

Business at Prime Outlets, a favorite Ellenton destination for bargain-hungry shoppers looking for a break on shoes or name-brand clothes, is slow this afternoon.

Mall marketers aren’t sure it’s because of the traffic redirection or just a slow Thursday.

Sarah Ozgun, marketing manager, said she noticed a reduction in the number of shoppers today.

“We have definitely seen a decrease in traffic as a result of the accident,” she said.

She is keeping an eye on detour plans, hoping they bring motorists closer to the mall, which is at I-75 and U.S. 301.

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Getting There Is Not Half The Fun

Posted Jun 5, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Jun 5, 2008 at 02:38 PM

Pat Lemieux knew the crash on Interstate 75 near Ellenton on Wednesday would crimp her style.

She works at the Seiko store at the Prime Outlets, a stone’s throw from where a tanker truck caught fire and ruined a southbound interstate span.

“I usually take the interstate,” she said.

Coming from her Ruskin home, Lemieus had to have a plan, and she did, taking some out-of-the-way roads to reach her place of employment.

She was here in plenty of time.

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DOT ‘Will Be Here Around The Clock’

Posted Jun 5, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Jun 5, 2008 at 02:47 PM

Florida Department of Transportation officials on Thursday afternoon said the Interstate 75 bridge near Ellenton that was heavily damaged Wednesday in a tanker truck fire will be torn down and rebuilt. The goal is to do it within six weeks.

In the meantime, Florida Highway Patrol troopers have devised a plan to reroute southbound traffic to the northbound lanes of the interstate for about two miles over the J.D. Young Bridge spanning the Manatee River.

The damaged portion of the bridge is over U.S. 301, and traffic was snarled there today as DOT spokeswoman Debbie Tower held a news conference with the charred damaged bridge as a backdrop.

She said demolition of the bridge could begin today. Two sections will be removed and replaced she said, as well as the supports, called piers, that hold them up.

How much the project will cost is unknown, she said. That depends on the bids that come in.

The state declared the situation an emergency, and that will expedite the process, she said. Typically, the bidding process alone could take two to four months, but bids on this project will be taken in two to three days.

Southbound traffic is exiting Interstate 75 at Interstate 275 and is being directed south on U.S. 41 into Bradenton, which is clogging traffic for miles. The detour takes about two hours to get to a point that on the interstate take minutes.

Tower said DOT structural engineers were at the scene within an hour of the tanker truck accident and were there until about 3 a.m. making assessments.

“There is significant damage,” she said. “This is why we are replacing it.”

The heat from the tanker fire crumbled the concrete, shrinking the supports and charring the overhead span. The fire was so intense that it exposed the steel reinforcement rods in the supports, she said.

The demolition will begin almost immediately, but explosives won’t be used, she said. Cranes will be called in to lift out the damaged sections.

‘We will be here around the clock,” she said.

Work has begun, she said.

“It’s been less than 24 hours, and we know what we need to do,” she said.

She acknowledged that the detours will be difficult for motorists, especially commuters. “It will be six weeks of tough times.”

Traffic on U.S. 301 in both directions is closed down. When the spans are removed, vehicles will be allowed back on U.S. 301.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Doug Dodson said work has begun on a plan to switch southbound traffic over into the northbound lanes to cross the 2-mile-long bridge. He said workers hope to complete the switchover, which involves paving part of the median north of the bridge, by Monday morning.

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Before The Fix, Demolition

Posted Jun 5, 2008 by Jackie Barron

Updated Jun 5, 2008 at 02:49 PM

Cranes are one the way to start demolition of two spans of Interstate 75 in Manatee County.

The State Department of Transportation says heat from a tanker fire caused too much damage to the southbound lanes at the northern end of the Trooper J.D. Young Bridge over U.S. 301.  The tractor-trailer driver went over the side of the bridge late Wednesday.

DOT estimates it will take six weeks to fully restore the damaged portion of the bridge.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the goal is to create southbound crossover lanes on the unaffected northbound side of the bridge before Monday morning rush hour.

The Manatee County School District also has weighed in on the fallout. The district plans to hold three high school graduations this week at the Manatee Convention Center, which sits at the heart of a detour routing southbound traffic off the interstate and through Palmetto and Bradenton. School leaders say people who plan to attend should allow extra travel time.

The big question is how long the highways will be affected.

Time will tell.

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