ROUNDABOUT RECONFIGURATION

The city is in the planning stages of a roundabout project at Ringling Boulevard. It’s a five-point intersection, similar to the Five Points roundabout, with a small one-way street as the fifth spoke.

But the major landowner at that intersection is hoping the city will consider closing off that one-way street and making a four-point roundabout instead (see map).

“We thought at some point in the future we might want to redevelop our campus,” said attorney Dan Bailey, of the law firm Williams, Parker, Harrison, Dietz and Getzen, which owns the land on both sides of Cross Street, the one-way road at that intersection.

City officials fear, though, that presenting changes to a plan that has already been approved for 100% state funding could put those funds at risk. The Florida Department of Transportation has promised between $700,000 and $800,000 to build the roundabout.

The law firm has no redevelopment plans, and a project would likely be years away. But, instead of having the city build a five-point roundabout and then a year or two later asking the city to reconfigure the intersection, the company wants the city to consider closing Cross Street from the beginning of construction, which is scheduled to begin next year.

Bailey said his firm would pick up the cost of any changes.

If that redevelopment were to occur, the city would likely be asked to vacate Cross Street, which Bailey said is used primarily by employees of the businesses on his firm’s property and by a small number of drivers bypassing Ringling Boulevard.

Before any expansion, though, Bailey detailed what the law firm would do to Cross Street. It would become a two-way dead end, with the only entrance coming from Orange Avenue.

The 20 parking spaces on the street would still be available until the redevelopment, and pedestrians could still walk from the roundabout to Orange Avenue.

After a redevelopment, the street would become a privately owned roadway, and Bailey said he would offer the city at least 20 parking spaces on the property to offset the loss of the on-street spots.

Alex DavisShaw, the city engineer, said she would most likely recommend to the City Commission that it keep the roundabout a five-point intersection.

“I’m concerned about losing the money from DOT,” she said.

Because there have been no public hearings on this change, DavisShaw said she has no idea how the surrounding neighborhoods of Burns Square and Laurel Park would accept the change.

“DOT does not like discontent,” she said.

Bailey said he would be more than willing to run his proposal by his neighbors.

In the meantime, he and his son, Charles, also an attorney at the law firm, plan to meet individually with commissioners to lobby for support.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected]

Click here to download a PDF of Sarasota roundabouts that are in the planning stages.

Click here to download a PDF of a map of the Ringling Boulevard and Orange Avenue intersection where the roundabout will be located.