Manatee Review

Bus riders can celebrate America’s freedom with a free ride to and from the beach this Fourth of July holiday weekend.

A special fare-free zone allows passengers to board the Beach ConneXion Shuttle to Manatee Public Beach July 3 and 4 at any Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) stop between 75th Street West and Anna Maria Island.

While the AMI Trolley and the Beach ConneXion Shuttle will operate on Independence Day, regular fixed route and Handy Bus services are suspended on July 4. Those routes will resume Monday, July 5.

Anna Maria Island's annual Independence Day Privateers Parade will be Monday, July 4, at 10 a.m. Beginning at Coquina Beach and traveling north on Gulf Drive through Holmes Beach and Anna Maria, the parade ends at the City Pier Park at Pine Avenue and North Bay Boulevard in Anna Maria at about noon. Gulf Drive and some side streets will be closed until the northbound parade marches past.

Manatee County's public beaches will remain open for the Independence Day weekend, and there will be additional law enforcement on Anna Maria Island to assist with the influx of residents and visitors to the Island during the busy holiday weekend. The County will place additional public port-a-lets near the public beaches and have them serviced daily during the holiday weekend. Trash will be removed more frequently from public beach areas during the weekend.

County Government offices will be closed Monday, July 4, to observe the holiday. All trash, recycling and yard waste collections will take place one day later than normal during the week of July 4. The Lena Road Landfill will be closed July 4.

Manatee County parks and beaches will be open to the public. Manatee County-owned golf courses will be open. G.T. Bray Recreation Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and racquet sports and Pickleball courts will be accessible. Blackstone Skate Park and G.T. Bray Skate Park will be open. Manatee County’s publicly owned natural preserves will remain open.

The Downtown Central Library, the only Manatee County library branch typically open on Mondays, will be closed on July 4.

_{Source:  https://www.mymanatee.org/news___events/what_s_new/free_beach_shuttles_for_holiday_riders}