Crews on site between 10th and 14th streets from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., city manager says
This week, motorists have been advised that they should expect to see roadwork at night along U.S. 41 near downtown Sarasota as the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) began removing the median between 10th Street and 14th Street in preparation for the construction of roundabouts at those intersections, City Manager Tom Barwin announced.
To keep traffic impacts to a minimum, the work was to be done from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. the week of Dec. 18 and the first week in January, Barwin reported in his Dec. 15 newsletter. Crews plan to begin removing the median at 10th Street and then work north, he noted.
The median demolition is necessary as crews prepare to shift traffic so they can widen U.S. 41 and expand sidewalks in that area, as part of the roundabout project, he wrote in the newsletter.
“A temporary asphalt lane will take the place of the median to facilitate a traffic shift, he continued. “That shift will affect southbound traffic.”
FDOT’s contractor, IBT Construction, expects the lane shift will be in place by the second week in January, Barwin wrote. “It’s important to note,” he added, that the lane will be temporarily reduced from 12 feet in width to 10 feet. Drivers with large vehicles, especially semi tractor-trailers, are encouraged to use U.S. 301 as a detour, he pointed out.
When the median is restored near the end of the project, it will be wider and uninterrupted, and it will feature more green space, Barwin wrote.