Officials give UTC traffic the yellow light

EAST COUNTY — As East County residents braced for the opening of the Mall at University Town Center in October, they shuddered at the thought of traffic, which was already piled up on the nearby roadway.

But traffic along University Parkway, particularly on either side of the Mall at University Town Center, has not been as bad as many East County residents feared following the mall’s October opening.

“Commuter traffic eastbound and westbound is about the same. We make adjustments whenever needed,” said Amjid Hussain, Sarasota County traffic signal engineer. “Overall, traffic is moving and flowing unless we have some kind of crash or accident. If there are no accidents, traffic is heavy, but it’s still manageable.”

Sarasota County Transportation Planning Manager Paula Wiggins adds: “It wasn’t the doom and gloom situation everyone was expecting.”

Sarasota, in coordination with the Florida Department of Transportation and Manatee County, has made adjustments to signal timing, for example, to help keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible.

And, although Sarasota County does not yet have traffic counts to compare traffic at University Parkway and Cattleman Road before and after the mall’s opening, Wiggins said the county definitely has seen an uptick in vehicles using the roadway.

“You have something that’s new; it’s drawing from a regional area,” Wiggins said. “To quantify that, we’re still looking as the data comes in, so it’s hard to give you a percentage. In general, there’s some increase.

But traffic is moving. It’s just not moving as fast as people want.”

So how long does it take?
Without county data, the East County Observer took to the streets to test routes surrounding UTC.
Below are our findings, plus tips on when specific routes become the roads less traveled.

Lakewood Ranch Main Street to Honore Avenue
Avoid at: Early evening
Best braved: Morning
Middle of the road: Noon to early afternoon
Average route time: 9 minutes, 36 seconds

Route report: The evening rush hour is the worst time to make this trip. It took us 12 minutes, 30 seconds to drive it at 5 p.m., compared with 7 minutes, 6 seconds during the morning rush hour at 8 a.m.

From The Mall at UTC to The Shoppes at UTC
Avoid at: Early afternoon
Best braved: Morning
Middle of the road: Evening
Average route time: 5 minutes, 34 seconds

Route report: Despite expecting rush-hour traffic to hold us up, it was actually the lunch hour that proved to be the slowest. Traveling during that time added an average of six minutes to our trip, which took a total of 10 minutes, 22 seconds at 1:20 p.m.

From The Shoppes at UTC to Lakewood Ranch Main Street
Avoid at: Early afternoon
Best braved: Morning
Middle of the road: Evening
Average route time: 13 minutes, 14 seconds

Route report: Regardless of your timing, drivers of this route can expect delays. Of the routes we drove, this was the longest on average, and it peaked in the early afternoon, when it took 18 minutes, 42 seconds to drive.

BY THE NUMBERS
4 - Routes driven

3 - Number of times each route was driven, to test each during morning rush hour, around lunch and during evening rush hour.

13 minutes, 14 seconds - Longest average route. From The Shoppes at UTC to Lakewood Ranch Main Street

4 minutes, 16 seconds - Shortest average route. From The Shoppes at UTC to The Mall at UTC

19 minutes, 3 seconds - Longest trip From The Mall at UTC to Lakewood Ranch Main Street, Jan. 31 at 1:45 p.m.

2 minutes, 28 seconds - Shortest trip Mall at UTC to Shoppes at UTC, Jan. 29 at 8:28 a.m.

Sound Off
Did The Mall at University Town Center make traffic worse? Does it make you think twice about traveling during certain times of the day?

“Traffic is much heavier, especially from Honore Avenue east to the mall. It doesn’t make me
think about when to travel, though.”
— Joannie Sloan

“It’s much more crowded but it’s the price you
pay for progress.”
— Jon Nilsen

“People keep complaining, but it’s no big deal. A little more traffic is worth what’s going on out here.”
— Julia Craven

“Traffic is much worse now. Getting into and out of the mall is terrible, and I plan when I’m going to avoid sitting in traffic as much as possible.
— Sharon Ramsey