Intersection of Orange Avenue and Ringling Boulevard to close Nov. 27 for roundabout construction

Detours to be provided along State Street and Lemon and Pineapple avenues

The intersection of Orange Avenue and Ringling Boulevard is in downtown Sarasota. Photo courtesy City of Sarasota

The intersection of Orange Avenue and Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota will be closed starting Monday, Nov. 27, as work begins to transform the signalized intersection into a single-lane roundabout, the City of Sarasota has announced.

Detours will be available via State Street, Lemon Avenue and Pineapple Avenue, a news release points out. “Nearby businesses will remain open for the duration of the project,” the release adds.

The roundabout “will improve traffic flow as well as driver and pedestrian safety,” the release continues. The project also will encompass infrastructure upgrades, including a new water line, additional lighting for the road and sidewalk, and landscaping improvements, the release notes.

“We want to remind everyone to have patience during the process,” said Richard Winder, the city’s coordinator of capital projects. “In the end, this project will greatly improve the traffic flow, safety and aesthetics of that intersection.”

Since 2010, several one-lane roundabouts have been constructed in downtown Sarasota — at Five Points, along Ringling Boulevard and, most recently, at the intersection of Orange Avenue and Main Street, “promoting a safer, more efficient and environmentally-friendly [traffic situation],” the release says.

To receive the $881,000 in grant funding provided by the Florida Department of Transportation for the project, the release points out, the project had to begin before 2018.