Coordination with local government entities and the public has been ongoing throughout the project. A total of 27 public and agency meetings were held, including 12 elected stakeholder meetings, 5 neighborhood meetings, 4 stakeholder meetings, 1 community outreach meeting, and 3 agency stakeholder meetings, as well as 2 public meetings. These meetings involved elected and appointed officials and agencies, including Manatee County, the City of Bradenton, and the City of Palmetto, to share information about the project and receive feedback. One presentation was given to the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

During the ETDM screening, the following ETAT members commented on the project: FL Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FL Department of Economic Opportunity, FL Department of Environmental Protection, FL Department of State, FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Park Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Southwest Florida Water Management District, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Agency coordination was initiated with the ETAT review during the ETDM Planning Screen and continued through the Programming Screen. The Programming Screen Review was initiated in December 2025 and ended in April 2026. The ETAT reviewed three corridors (Corridor A, Corridor B and Corridor D) and provided comments on potential impacts to resources and recommended Avoidance, Minimization, and Mitigation Opportunities. All ETAT comments favored Corridor A, the corridor being evaluated in this PD&E study. The overall degree of effects for corridor A was either an enhancement, minimal, moderate, and a few substantial. However, the substantial degree of effects in the screening was based on a wider footprint than what is studied in the PD&E study.

After review of ETAT comments, a response was sent to commenting agencies and a Summary Degree of Effect was assigned to each topic (see Table 6-1)

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