Sarasota plots bike upgrades on islands

Between a multiuse recreational trail on Coon Key, a bicycle rental program at the St. Armands Circle parking garage and a proposal to install bicycle racks around the Circle, Sarasota city officials are hoping they can make it easier for residents to visit the barrier islands without relying on an automobile.

“We know — especially this time of year — that traffic congestion going out to the barrier islands is a pretty big issue, so we want to make sure people have other options that are viable and safe, if they want to do that,” said Colleen McGue, the city’s chief transportation planner.

The bike racks were a topic of discussion at the Feb. 12 St. Armands Business Improvement District meeting, where board members were enthusiastic about the potential to add more bicycle parking options to the commercial district. According to the city, there is only one bike rack in St. Armands Circle. Planning staff has identified nine different locations where racks could be installed in the public right of way, allowing the storage of more than 70 bikes.

BID board member Mindy Kauffman said she was interested in making a visit to the Circle more convenient for people cycling from the mainland to visit St. Armands and other locations on the barrier islands. BID Operations Manager Brandy Wiesner said the racks could be particularly helpful once the city completes construction of the Coon Key MURT, a project scheduled for completion in the fall. The group expressed a desire to discuss the bike rack proposal with city staff at a future meeting.

Although the city does offer bicycle parking in the St. Armands garage on North Adams Drive, McGue said the convenience of distributing additional racks around the Circle would make a difference.

“We know that bicyclists are much more likely to want to park as close as they can to their destinations,” McGue said. “This will really help with that.”

Last month, the city announced it had partnered with a private vendor to set up a self-service bike rental station in the St. Armands garage. Visitors have the option to pay $10 to rent a bike for two hours, $15 for five hours or $25 for 48 hours.

On Saturday morning, Lido Key residents Sheila and Greg Masterson traveled to the garage to test out the bike rental system. They offered some additional features they’d like to see — the ability to use an app on their phones, the availability of different drop-off points beyond the garage —but they were still excited the rental opportunity was available.

“We don’t own bikes, so we think this is a great thing,” Sheila Masterson said.

Although the city is in the process of a long-term transportation master planning effort, the confluence of these bike projects on the barrier islands right now isn’t a coincidence, McGue said. Through the state, the city has access to data from the fitness app Strava, which gives officials the sense of where people are biking and running around the city. With some cycling infrastructure already in place around the barrier islands, McGue said places such as St. Armands offered an opportunity to make lower-cost investments with higher potential for serving residents.

Beyond the bike racks, the city has already identified some streets near the Circle where it intends to add shared lane markings, letting motorists know they have to share the road with people on bikes. And beyond St. Armands, McGue said planning staff hopes to bring initiatives such as the bike rental program to downtown and other areas of Sarasota.

“We’re working on implementing bike infrastructure citywide,” McGue said.