Retailers on Bee Ridge ride out construction

The Florida Department of Transportation said businesses would probably be inconvenienced when the $17 million Bee Ridge Road construction project began in January.

More than seven months later, several business owners in the Colonnade Shopping Center at 2300 Bee Ridge Road would agree.

The project spans nearly 4 miles of Bee Ridge Road from Siesta Drive to Bond Place. When complete, the roadway will look mostly the same, aside from 11 new pedestrian islands. For now, though, as crews navigate conflicting water lines to replace drainage pipes below the road, businesses in the Colonnade are operating behind a line of construction.

Though temporary signs mark entrances to businesses while the project is ongoing, merchants say the project has made it difficult for customers to access the property.

Arlene Rhyne, owner of Sarasota Florist and Gifts, said after the construction began, she didn’t have walk-in customers for more than a month. Store manager Luke Sweeney said even deliveries are difficult with increased congestion along Bee Ridge Road.

“Our walk-ins are down,” Sweeney said. “We haven’t done anything to try to bring in more people because there’s been such inconsistent access.”

At least one merchant has attempted to find a way to overcome those issues. Owners of ABC Rentals Lynn and Bob Shaffer also saw a decrease in activity after construction began, although when clients stopped coming to their business, they brought their business to their clients.

They opened a self-serve satellite location on the corner of Avenida Messina and Avenida Navarra in Siesta Key Village. 

 “It’s really supporting itself,” Shaffer said, “which tells me people really don’t want to come here.”

Not all retailers in the Colonnade are convinced the construction is keeping business slow. In fact, one business owner doesn’t feel his sales have suffered.

“We’re the only store of our kind, so people are going to come either way,” said Jeff Lewis, co-owner of Total Tennis of Siesta Key.

If anything, he thinks it’s the perception that traffic is bad along Bee Ridge Road that causes people to avoid the area.

“They’ve done a really nice job at keeping the traffic moving,” Lewis said. 

According to FDOT spokesman Robin Stublen, the Bee Ridge Road project is a combination of three projects. FDOT intended to resurface the road and install pedestrian islands, but upon inspection, the agency found problems with the drainage pipes underneath the road.

Additional complications arose when FDOT excavated the roadway. The failing drainage pipes were either on top of or directly underneath Sarasota County water lines, prompting FDOT to collaborate with Sarasota County as FDOT contractors attempted to remove the drainage pipes without damaging water lines.

“Keep in mind, some of the drainage pipes we are replacing are 6 feet in diameter,” Stublen said. “So it is a challenge.”

Some businesses in the Colonnade shopping center have complained about water service interruptions, but according to Sarasota County, it’s unclear if that’s directly related to the construction.

Though the project is not expected to conclude until summer 2017, Stublen believes the associated issues should subside as it continues.

“That is not to say there will not be times of inconvenience; there will. It is that it should become more bearable as the project proceeds,” Stublen said. 

To date, FDOT has spent more than $4.5 million of its $17.1 million contract with Watson Civil Construction, which increased slightly due to the addition of a $16,000 business sign.

The project has also experienced 58 days of weather-related delays that added to the contract’s length.

Business owners along Bee Ridge will have to wait another year before the temporary blue signs are removed from their makeshift store entrances, and even the more tolerant merchants like Lewis are looking forward to an end to the construction.

“I’ll be glad when it’s over,” Lewis said.