Feb. 19 City of Sarasota town hall scheduled on city’s Traffic Calming Plan

Public invited to learn about issues and provide comments

This ‘bulb-out’ on a street is a device used to encourage drivers to proceed more slowly. Photo courtesy City of Sarasota

Members of the public are invited to attend a Feb. 19 City of Sarasota town hall meeting to learn about, and provides comments on, the launch of the city’s Traffic Calming Plan, city staff has announced.

The session will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. within the Commission Chambers of City Hall, which stands at 1565 First St. in downtown Sarasota, a news release says.

“Following a short presentation outlining the goals and vision for the plan,” an open forum will begin during which the attendees will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and perspectives, the advisory says. “Each participant will be given two minutes to speak.”

“We understand how important traffic calming is to our community,” said Corinne Arriaga, the project manager, in the release. “This town hall is an opportunity for residents to engage directly in shaping the future of traffic calming initiatives within the City of Sarasota.”

“The first stage of the City’s Traffic Calming Plan is focused on information gathering, public engagement,” and encouraging community members to provide their thoughts and work collaboratively with city staff, the release explains.

“Following the [Feb. 19] public meeting,” the city website says, “a digital survey will be conducted to gather information from community members on areas of concern and any recommendations they may have.” The survey will run from Feb. 19 to April 20, the website notes.

Traffic calming is a set of roadway measures that engineers can implement to “alter driver behavior and reduce the negative impacts motorists can have on pedestrians and cyclists,” the city’s website points out. Traffic calming can help to reduce speed and vehicle crashes, “and in turn, increase pedestrian and bicyclist usage,” the webpage adds.

Among the measures that can be taken are the following, the city webpage continues:

  • “Horizontal Deflections (roundabouts, traffic circle).
  • “Vertical Deflections (speed tables, raised intersections).
  • ” Street Width Reduction (median islands, on-street parking).
  • “Routing Restrictions (median barriers, splitters).”

Further the webpage points out, “Education and enforcement are also considered to be traffic calming measures but should be used in conjunction with physical measures when possible.”

The city’s website adds, “The Traffic Calming Plan (TCP) is a City-wide initiative dedicated to unifying the existing Traffic Calming program and evaluating areas of community concern for potential traffic calming solutions.”

Click here for more information about the City’s Traffic Calming Plan,” the news release says.