Traffic worries residents

LAKEWOOD RANCH — As a resident of the Summerfield community in Lakewood Ranch, June Stroup drives on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard every day.

And each day, her concerns grow stronger.

A 16-year supervisor on the Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 1 board, Stroup has seen traffic increase over the years, and she worries the roadway won’t be able to adequately handle future traffic, particularly after the Oct. 16 opening of the Mall at University Town Center to the south and the future construction of the Fort Hamer Bridge to the north.

Many Lakewood Ranch communities, including those in Summerfield and Riverwalk, farther north, and Watercrest, farther south, open directly onto Lakewood Ranch Boulevard without any traffic signals or stop signs.

“These projects are going to create more traffic,” Stroup said. “We need to find solutions that will create safer alternatives.”

At the prompting of CDD 1 supervisors during their August board meeting, the Summerfield/Riverwalk Village Association Safety Committee emailed a questionnaire to residents to gather their feelings on community safety.

Committee Chairman Bob Swiatek said of the 29 responses received, most people felt safe in Lakewood Ranch, but worried about traffic on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

“There are so many unknown factors,” Swiatek said. “As it grows, it’s going to add more traffic. There is nothing on the west side of I-75 that goes the distance. Lakewood Ranch Boulevard is the only north-south road that goes for any length of time. You can just figure that at some point, the traffic on that road is going to be a lot greater.”

Mike Maholtz, transportation planner for the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, said Lakewood Ranch Boulevard currently sees average traffic counts of about 11,300 vehicles per day from State Road 64 south to State Road 70 and about 13,300 vehicles daily from about S.R. 70 south to University Parkway, based on Florida Department of Transportation data stations along the roadway.
Data show traffic has increased over time, but not drastically.

For example, count data from a station within a quarter mile of I-75, east on University Parkway, reports daily traffic counts of 34,256 vehicles in 2013, compared with 32,537 vehicles in 2008.

“There’s going to be more traffic on the entire network,” Maholtz said of growth in the area. “All the roads are going to be impacted by the opening of the mall. To what degree is too early to tell. Everybody’s concerned and I understand that. But it’s there and it’s coming on board and I guess you can make an argument it wasn’t planned for very well, but some people would argue the other way.”

Maholtz said the MPO’s 2035 long-range transportation plan, which includes projected traffic for local road networks, included projections for the mall, as it was designed at that time. It also accounted for traffic from the Fort Hamer Bridge.

Using census numbers and other data from 2009 and 2010, the MPO estimated that, by 2035, Lakewood Ranch Boulevard would carry 30,201 vehicles daily and remain a four-lane road from State Road 70 to State Road 64 once the mall and the bridge open.

Capacity for that stretch of road, Maholtz said, is 33,000 vehicles daily.

From State Road 70 to Clubhouse Drive, projected volume in 2035 increases to 35,000 vehicles daily on the six-lane section of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. Capacity for that stretch of road is 55,300 vehicles.

From Clubhouse Drive to the Braden River, the roadway drops from six to four lanes and projected volume in 2035 increases to 35,000 vehicles, compared with the 36,700-vehicle capacity.

And from Braden River to University Parkway, the projected vehicle volume in 2035 is about 35,300 cars daily, compared with a vehicle capacity of 36,700 vehicles.

The MPO is starting work on its updated long-range transportation plan now and will complete it in December 2015, Maholtz said. The updated plan will include any changes in development in the area.

Swiatek said he plans to organize a meeting between CDD representatives, members of the various Lakewood Ranch safety meetings and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office to discuss safety on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

“I think that’s going to alleviate some of the concerns people have,” he said.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].