The constant stop-start situation at the Coquina Beach parking lot expansion may finally resolve to a finished project with a lot more parking and much better drainage for Coquina Beach, the beach with the most parking on Anna Maria Island.

In 2022, the big news was the removal of the main contractor on the project. In the case of Coquina Beach, the Miami firm American Pipeline went out of business and had to remove themselves from the project.  The $5 million parking expansion and drainage improvement project had already spent $2.7 million of its allotted costs and was actually making visible progress. The contractor issue put the project back by about a year, with it slated to finish per the project’s website sometime in 2023.

Here’s a map showing the status of parking at the beach, direct from the project’s online information.

The project was started and funded to improve stormwater drainage and add more parking to the Coquina Beach parking lot at Bradenton Beach. There have been years of flooding issues that happen during heavy rainfall, making the lot unusable when the weather is bad. A big part of the expense was to replace all of the existing shell parking surfaces with porous concrete, new concrete curbs and better stormwater collection throughout the lot.

All of this work is part of a bigger project that adds a lot of parking. The drainage improvements increase parking capacity to include 700+ paved/marked spaces for cars and 142 overflow parking spaces.  Environmental aspects of the project including removing a large number of Australian pine trees with replacement by around 87 native trees of more habitat-friendly varieties.

The Australian pines have been damaging the pines and causing issues with the Coquina Beach Trail for years.

Make sure you swing by Hurricane Hank’s on your next trip to Anna Maria Island. We’ve been serving up incredible dining experiences since we first opened our doors back in 2000. Our mission has always been to provide our guests with unforgettable moments, whether you’re a local or a visitor to Holmes Beach and Anna Maria Island. Over the years, we’ve carefully curated a menu that features our customers’ all-time favorites alongside tantalizing new dishes. We believe in using only the finest ingredients, allowing their natural flavors to shine through in every bite.

We’re located at 5346 Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach. We have parking!