MPO study takes latest shot at unknotting Longboat traffic

Anyone who has ever spent time on Longboat Key during peak season the past 30 years knows traffic jams are as common as sunshine from January through March.

At least four traffic studies involving Longboat Key have been performed since 2005, yet none of these surveys has been able to uncork the Longboat Key traffic bottleneck.

A new Sarasota-Manatee Barrier Island traffic study likely will be the latest to examine the problem and suggest possible short- and long-term solutions.

On Sept. 28, the state approved funding 80% of the study, said Tricia Labud, the Florida Department of Transportation traffic studies and analysis specialist handling the project. The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization will pick up the remaining 20% of costs, Labud said. The study is projected to cost $675,000, but has a budget of up to $1.5 million, depending on consultant costs.

A big concern for Longboat Key, however, is whether it will take into account mainland traffic. Town Manager Dave Bullock and Commissioner Jack Daly warned the study is worthless at any cost without doing so.

Daly said the scope of the study approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization was understood to include a focus on mainland traffic issues contributing to traffic congestion on the barrier islands.

Daly, who sits on the MPO board as the town’s representative and helped persuade FDOT to pay for the study by arguing barrier island traffic is a statewide problem, said he was concerned the focus was being lost.

Bullock reached out to Labud the last week of September to discuss Longboat Key concerns.

Labud’s response was reassuring, Bullock said. She thanked Bullock for pointing out the current wording of the scope of the study is unclear.

“We agree that it is vital to the success of this study to include the mainland connections to the east,” Labud said. “We will certainly be adding clarifying language within the scope to define the limits of the study before consultant presentations.”

A steering committee will help define study parameters once a consultant is selected, Labud said. The timeline for the project targets hiring a consultant near the end of January.

FDOT estimates peg island traffic on Gulf of Mexico Drive in a category of fewer than 15,000 vehicles a day, which works out to a maximum of 5.47 million vehicles annually.

At least four previous traffic studies have been done since 2005, looking at a variety of traffic issues (see timeline). The MPO has been involved in several studies, including the 2005 Water Taxi Feasibility Study, the 2007 Barrier Islands Traffic Congestion Study and the 2013 Park and Ride Implementation Plan.

Labud listed all these previous surveys and more in a scope of service proposal for the newest Sarasota-Manatee Barrier Island study.

“For the most part these studies have been performed, but as for how much has been implemented, I’m not sure,” Labud said.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization, made up of 17 elected officials in Manatee and Sarasota counties, approved the latest comprehensive barrier island traffic study.

The Florida Department of Transportation estimates the study will take 1,500 hours to perform.