Project had been scheduled for completion in January
In a video that Sarasota County staff released late in the afternoon of Oct. 1, Carolyn Eastwood, director of the county’s Capital Projects Department, announced that the road resurfacing that has been taking place on Siesta Key will be suspended for the time being to allow residents, business owners and county staff to continue with the island’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
For example, on Oct. 2, the storm debris clean-up on the county’s barrier islands was expected to begin. County advisories have explained, “Debris collection contractors have been activated and are mobilizing their service teams.” The Oct. 2 date was set “[t]o allow barrier island residents time to return home and place damaged materials at the curb …”
As of the evening of Oct. 1, water service had been restored to the last communities on Siesta Key, staff also pointed out. Those were Sanderling and Fisherman Haven, on the southern portion of the island. However, residents of those neighborhoods were being advised to boil water for the next 24 to 36 hours, out of an abundance of caution to ensure protection of public health.
Nonetheless, about midday on Oct. 2, county staff announced that the “boil water notice” remained in effect just for Fisherman Haven.
“We’ve completed about a third of the roads that we intended to resurface,” Eastwood noted in the approximately 41-second-long clip.
The county’s Construction — One Week Look Ahead report for the period of Sept. 23 through Sept. 29 noted that the project’s completion had been anticipated in January 2025.
That document explained that the contract “includes milling and paving of existing roadways, pavement striping, ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] ramp modifications, curb repairs, and roadway base repairs to various residential roads.”
The milling and paving began on Aug. 7, the document added.
From Sept. 23 through Sept. 29, it said, the contractor had “scheduled paving operations on the following streets, weather permitting: Venice Lane, Common Wealth Place, Birdsong Lane, Dewey Place, Oakmont Place.”
As the News Leader has reported, the County Commission on April 9 voted to award the $11.4-million Siesta resurfacing contract to Ajax Paving Industries of North Venice. The total lane-mile count will be 34.72, as noted in a county staff memo that was part of the April 9 agenda packet. As of that time, the memo further pointed out, staff expected that the initiative would be substantially completed by the end of November, “weather permitting.”
However, the memo also indicated that work would be underway before the end of April. Instead, staff did not advise residents and business owners until late May that the work was to begin the first full week of June.
The funding for the project comes out of gas tax revenue that the county receives and the county’s Traffic Fund in the Surtax 3 Program, a voter-approved initiative that generates revenue from an additional penny of sales tax.