Little Ringling Bridge alternatives come with at least $64M price tag

Options to rebuild a critical 0.75-mile bridge linking downtown Sarasota to the barrier islands of St. Armands, Lido and Longboat keys will be presented during a Florida Department of Transportation public hearing next Thursday.

The hearing, which will include a presentation of the FDOT’s preferred option, will be Thursday, March 21, at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church, 40 N. Adams Drive. The project area is between Bird Key Drive and Sarasota Harbour West. The in-person open house will begin at 5 p.m. The virtual and in-person hearing and testimony portion will begin at 6 p.m. The meeting will also be available online.

The project area is between Bird Key Drive and Sarasota Harbor West. In addition to addressing the structural integrity of the spans, the aging twin bridges lack facilities needed for modern transportation needs and do not match recent and future improvements to the John Ringling Bridge between the mainland and Bird Key.

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Constructed in 1958, the bridges are spaced 100 feet apart from center to center. Each bridge is 1,008 feet long and 37.5 feet wide. It is supported by 21 spans each 48 feet long, all consisting of four lines of precast concrete beams on concrete piles. 

The maximum vertical clearance under the bridges is approximately 12 feet above average high water. Several sections of the deck were replaced on the westbound bridge in 2016 along with other repair work throughout the years.

Project alternatives include replacing the twin bridges with a single bridge at $63.7 million or new twin bridges at $71.5 million.

The single bridge alternative would replace the two existing bridges with a single structure for all lanes of travel. The travel lanes on the new bridge will be the same 11-foot width as on the existing bridges. Ten-foot outside shoulders will accommodate bicyclists, and a 14-foot shared use path would be added to each side of the bridge.

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The twin bridges alternative will replace the two existing bridges with individual bridges for each direction of travel. The travel lanes on the new bridges will be the same 11-foot width as on the existing bridges. Ten-foot outside shoulders will accommodate bicyclists, and a 14-foot shared use path would be added to the outside of each bridge.

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There is also a third option, which is no-build. 

No build doesn’t mean no cost. That alternative assumes no improvements made to the Little Ringling bridges through the year 2050, except routine maintenance. The condition of the bridges would require ongoing maintenance and periodic major rehabilitation projects to keep them functional. Rehabilitation projects would likely include partial or complete deck replacement, substructure and beam repairs and replacement of structural pile jackets and corrosion protection to slow deterioration. 

Maintenance repairs for no-build would be ongoing and larger rehabilitation projects could be expected approximately every five years for the next 30 years, after which time the bridge would require replacement.

To view the hearing online, advance registration is required at https://bit.ly/LittleRinglingPublicHearing. From 5 to 6 p.m., in-person attendees can view project materials and speak with the team in an open house format. The virtual and in-person hearing and testimony portion will begin at 6 p.m. Both in-person and virtual attendees may view the project presentation and provide feedback on the proposed alternative. 

All meeting materials, including the presentation, are available online at SWFLRoads.com/project/436680-1 by March 14. Project documents are also available for public viewing through April 4 at Selby Public Library, 1331 First St. in Sarasota, and at FDOT District One Manatee Operations Center, 14000 East State Road 64 in Bradenton.