What happens to a hot spot in Manatee? Houses, fast food, road projects. What there is to know

A The 2,575-square-foot Wendy’s is coming to Moccasin Wallow Road, the first fast-food restaurant planned for a stretch of quiet county road that’s transforming into a traffic and growth hotspot.

Wendy’s is planned near Seaire, a planned community of more than 3,000 homes under development.

Seaire is built around a 4.5-acre man-made lagoon on the south side of Moccasin Wallow Road, between Carter Road and Sea Chase Avenue.

It is also near another planned development, the Floridian Club, and Del Webb’s BayView community, which is on Cat Corner on the north side of the road.

Wendy’s, which recently appeared on the Manatee County Development Services website, is so new that an opening date is most likely at least a year away.

It’s also a spot on the map where traffic engineers are struggling to accommodate all that growth.

As big as Seaire is, it’s not the biggest development on Moccasin Wallow Road. That distinction goes to North River Ranch, planned for 6,000 homes and a new hospital.

Moccasin Wallow Road is at the center of 25,000 homes planned for the Parrish-North River area and is also one of the largest road construction projects in Manatee County.

North River Ranch developer John Neal said a gourmet Italian restaurant, ice cream parlor, coffee shop and breakfast cafe are coming, as well as a Publix, which will open March 21. But no fast food restaurants.

“We are focused on high-quality food and table-side dining,” Neal said. “We focus on lifestyle rather than fast food.”

VSconstruction of retrofit roads

Manatee County is in the middle of a $178 million project to four-lane Moccasin Wallow Road from U.S. 301 in the east to U.S. 41 in the west.

“We’re trying to meet the growth requirements in this area,” County Engineer Scott May said. “It’s an extremely fast-growing area. We have experienced annual growth of 3.5% in recent years.

The four-phase project, which includes a four-lane roundabout at U.S. 301 and Moccasin Wallow Road, is expected to be completed in late 2026, with some segments completed sooner than others.

In addition to helping handle all of the upcoming growth in the Parrish-North River area, the 6.5-mile Moccasin Wallow Road project connects SeaPort Manatee to the state highway system.

“The improvement project will widen the existing two-lane road to four lanes, and plans include adding bike lanes, sidewalks and a shared-use path. The current project will be designed to widen travel lanes in the future, ultimately making Moccasin Wallow Road a six-lane divided urban roadway,” according to the project webpage.

Here’s what you need to know

▪ Segment I: Stretches just over a mile from US 301 to 115th Avenue East, near Harvey Elementary School and the entrance to the Copperstone neighborhood. Completion is scheduled for 2025. The contractor is Gator Grading & Paving.

▪ Segment II: Extends from 115th Avenue East to the vicinity of Bayside Community Church, 9505 Moccasin Wallow Road. Manatee County government is preparing to put out a competitive bidding process for this segment. Estimated completion date: late 2025 or early 2026.

▪ Segment III: Extends from the area around Bayside Community Church to Buffalo Road, which serves the Gateway Commons shopping center at the intersection of I-75 and Moccasin Wallow Road. Estimated completion: end of 2026. Contractor still to be determined.

▪ Segment IV: Extends from I-75 to US 41. Estimated completion date: Late 2024 or early 2025. Contractor is Prince Contracting, LLC. This is the most expensive segment with estimated costs of $49.5 million.

The proposed speed limit once the project is completed will be 45 mph along most of the Moccasin Wallow Road corridor. The first quarter mile of US 41 east will be posted at 40 mph.

More information

For more information on the Moccasin Wallow Road Improvement Project, visit https://moccasinwallowroad.com/.