Welcome Back: Traffic congestion headed for your roadways

How bad is traffic on Longboat Key?

It’s bad enough that last season, Town Manager Dave Bullock said he has heard from residents who are starting to wonder if it’s time to move to the mainland.

It’s frustrating enough that Commissioner Phill Younger created his own traffic plan to ease congestion through St. Armands Circle for Longboaters that he hopes Sarasota officials will consider.

And it’s one that could grow worse in the long term.

At least four hotel projects will be underway in downtown Sarasota in 2016, which will add to beach traffic when completed. On Longboat Key, the Florida Department of Transportation is adding four crosswalks to Gulf of Mexico Drive, which some worry could slow the flow of vehicles.

Traffic is creating enough of a concern that the Longboat Key Town Commission even asked one of its own residents, retired Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steve Branham to use his connections to investigate whether drawbridge openings can be reduced during season. 

When it comes to traffic, though, there are no magic-bullet solutions.

Although Branham persuaded the Coast Guard to reduce New Pass Bridge openings during peak traffic times during season, most of the traffic backups that ail the Key rest with neighboring jurisdictions.

That’s why Bullock believes the Florida Department of Transportation has to take ownership of the problem.

Bullock told the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization in April if the Sarasota-Manatee area can’t manage traffic more efficiently in season, it’s in danger of losing both tourists and residents to areas that can. 

Manatee and Sarasota officials asked FDOT to look into conducting a seasonal traffic analysis of traffic between the barrier islands and the mainland to identify potential improvements after Bullock and Mayor Jack Duncan urged for the study in April. 

FDOT officials outlined a plan for a $675,000 seasonal traffic study of the region’s barrier islands at the Oct. 25 MPO meeting. Bullock and Public Works Director Juan Florensa, who attended the meeting, were disappointed when the MPO deferred deciding on the issue until its Dec. 14 meeting.

“Beaches are the state’s No. 1 economic engine, and when people start reconsidering using them because of traffic, an analysis to find some measurable congestion relief must be done,” Bullock said.

Bullock said he believes the study could provide lessons FDOT could apply to other seasonal traffic areas around the state. 

Florensa said he’s also hopeful FDOT will still perform the study and take more ownership of the costs involved with it. 

“This is a statewide issue,” Florensa said. “It’s not just our region that has these seasonal traffic issues. All the barrier islands on the East Coast of Florida and other desirable areas in the state have the same problems.”