Residents push for short-term traffic solutions

Seasonal traffic congestion is an annual source of consternation in Sarasota and on its barrier islands, and there’s seemingly no relief on the way anytime soon.

The city of Sarasota and town of Longboat Key are working toward potential solutions, but those are of little comfort in 2017.

A regional barrier island traffic study likely won’t be completed until 2018. Roundabouts at key intersections on U.S. 41 won’t be built for another four years, at least.

Sarasota Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown said traffic issues are a priority for local leaders, but the reality is there are no quick fixes.

“There are some things, long term, we believe will help,” Brown said. “The short-term solutions are not going to provide the kind of relief people are looking for.”

Still, residents in both municipalities are calling for more immediate action.

Lou Costa, a retired engineer who lives on Bird Key, is lobbying the city to focus its attention on the intersections at Fruitville Road and Gulfstream Avenue along U.S. 41. He’s working with fellow Sarasota resident Lou Dorff on an idea he said will cut down on the time it takes to get from the barrier islands to the mainland during rush hour by 30%.

His pitch: Place traffic cops at those two problem intersections from 3 to 5 p.m. daily. He said officers can prevent drivers from blocking the intersections, which exacerbates congestion on an already-crowded roadway.

Per his calculations, it would cost $31,500 to place two cops on U.S. 41 for an average of 2.5 hours a day for 20 weeks. He said that’s a small price to pay — whether it’s the state or local governments footing the bill. The proposal is based on his anecdotal observations, but he’s still confident it would address some of the traffic problems.

“All you have to do is sit at the intersection and watch what happens,” Costa said.

The two men have found allies on Longboat. The resident-led Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force has been focusing on traffic solutions for a couple of years now, chairman Tom Freiwald said. It has a list of more than 100 proposed fixes, and is focusing on getting local officials to try a few of them out to see if they’d lead to improvements.

One of those proposals? Installing traffic cops along U.S. 41 to ensure the traffic lights at Gulfstream and Fruitville are synchronized. They’re not necessarily advocating for a long-term investment, but they think testing it for a few days couldn’t hurt.

“Our perspective is, none of us are sure what are good ideas and what are bad ideas, so why don’t we try out some ideas for a few days at a time?” Freiwald said.

On Tuesday, Longboat Key Mayor Terry Gans sent a letter to Sarasota Mayor Willie Shaw expressing a willingness to share the cost burden of implementing the traffic cop proposal.

“These locations have proven to be interrelated in producing the most significant choke point to traffic traveling east from Bird Key, St. Armands Circle, Lido Key and Longboat Key,” Gans wrote in the letter.

He shares the desire to see short-term efforts to relieve congestion, even if they don’t solve the problems completely.

“We know these are just Band-Aids at this point, but they’re necessary Band-Aids,” Gans said.

Longboat Town Manager Dave Bullock agreed the proposal might not have a significant impact on congestion, but that leaders need to show residents they know the anxiety this issue is causing.

“From our perspective, a significant part of the frustration is it doesn’t appear anyone is doing anything,” Bullock said. “While there may be planning in place, the popular perception is no one’s doing anything. Any attempt to experiment is better than sitting and waiting.”

Stakeholders on St. Armands Circle are also rallying behind the effort to get some traffic improvement efforts underway this season. And Downtown Improvement District board member Mark Kauffman suggested the cost could be split between multiple entities — including private businesses that would benefit, such as the Longboat Key Club and Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.

“I think you can accumulate the money quickly,” Kauffman said. “You have to show you’re trying something, whether it works or not.”

Right now, city officials say the proposal might prove difficult. The streets in question are under state control, and Brown suggested the Florida Department of Transportation would not let the city manage the traffic signals at those intersections.

“It’s much more complicated than it seems,” Brown said.

“The popular perception is no one’s doing anything. Any attempt to experiment is better than sitting and waiting.” — Dave Bullock

Their attention is being given to other avenues of addressing traffic issues. Sarasota Police Department is looking for ways to discourage drivers from blocking the intersections. The police have placed instructional signs along the roadway and plan to soon post motorcycle cops at the intersections for enforcement purposes, pending state approval.

There’s pessimism among city officials about the ability to take more significant steps to lighten the load on the road network during the next four months. On Longboat, however, there is a desire to keep working toward any fixes that might improve the current conditions — and to persuade their partners in the region to do the same.

“We’re in a position where we can’t make our wishes come true by ourselves,” Gans said. “We have to depend on the city in this case, on the state in other cases, on Manatee County.”