Segment of U.S. 41 to be addressed is from Blackburn Point Road to Stickney Point Road
On Jan. 24, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will host a public information meeting regarding the design of proposed improvements to U.S. 41 from Blackburn Point Road to State Road 72/Stickney Point Road in Sarasota County, FDOT has announced.
“The primary purpose of this project is to create a complete street that serves all users: cars, trucks, transit, pedestrians and bicycles,” an FDOT news release explains.
The workshop will be conducted from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, located at 425 S. Tamiami Trail in Osprey, the FDOT release says.
The meeting will feature an informal open house format, the release notes. Any member of the public is welcome to come to the session at any time during the two-hour period so he or she may view the displays and speak with project team members, the release adds.
The proposed design includes reconstruction of paved shoulders from 4 feet to 7 feet to provide 7-foot-wide buffered bike lanes and the widening of right-turn lanes to accommodate the new bike lanes, the release points out. The design also calls for adding 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalks along both sides of U.S. 41 in the project area where they do not exist, the release says. Additionally, pedestrian crossings will be provided over North, Catfish, Clower, Oscar and Matheny creeks, the release adds. Pedestrian sidewalk ramps also will be modified throughout the project area to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, it notes. Further, “Driveways will be modified as needed to accommodate the new bike lanes and to bring them up to current design standards,” the release says. “Bus shelter pads will be constructed, and the bus bays will be widened.”