County approves Siesta bridge repairs

Sarasota County commissioners approved a contract with Uretek Holdings for $759,090 to repair parts of eight bridges on Siesta Key at their Feb. 18 meeting.

The Siesta Key bridges remediation project falls under the capital improvements program. The project will evaluate and repair deteriorated concrete on seawalls and approaches to the bridges.

Thai Tran, transportation manager for the county, said some signs of deterioration were found during a scheduled maintenance inspection, and that the seawalls beneath the bridges and some of the approach ramps leading up to the bridge showed wear.

“We saw some already happening—we’ll fix them to make sure there’s no more,” he said.

Tran doesn’t predict any road closures during the repairs, only intermittent lane closings. The contract is for 120 days, and he expects the repairs to begin in March. However, the county doesn’t have specifics yet on the construction schedule or which bridge will be first.

“We’ll be notifying nearby residents,” Tran said. “We’ll let people know ahead of time.”