Florida’s S.R. 64 West Palma Sola Scenic Highway Shoreline Restored with Native Plants

Follow Friday: Keep America Beautiful Affiliate Stories
Sep 9, 2016 3:35 PM ET
Tom Heitzman and Tracey Hooper of Parrish, Florida's Sweet Bay Nursery provided native landscape designs for the Palma Sola Scenic Highway restoration project in Bradenton, Florida.

One of the first phases of a Palma Sola Scenic Highway resource protection, preservation and enhancement project will be done in time to celebrate Keep America Beautiful’s National Planting Day on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Bradenton, Florida.

Keep America Beautiful affiliate Keep Manatee Beautiful (KMB) has partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Manatee County Government, City of Bradenton, and the Palma Sola Scenic Highway Corridor Management Entity (CME) to enhance this designated Florida Scenic Highway.   

A Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Grant of $3,000 was awarded to KMB to restore the shorelines along the Palma Sola Scenic Highway with native plants where invasive plants were removed. The grant will also be used to install bollards to protect the native vegetation from damage and the shoreline from erosion, while still providing waterway access.

Sweet Bay Nursery in Parrish, Florida, installed the native plants in time for National Planting Day. The City of Bradenton will water the new plants through the establishment period.  Woodruff & Sons in Bradenton will be repairing and installing the bollards later in September. FDOT removed 60 tons of invasive plants from March through July 2016, while Manatee County Government waived the landfill tipping fees for the invasive plants.

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