FDOT already had committed $2 million for construction of each bridge
On Dec. 3, Sarasota County Government began advertising for bids necessary for the construction of two more Legacy Trail overpasses — for Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street in Sarasota, The Sarasota News Leader learned.
Each advertisement is seeking “qualified professional engineering services for design, permitting and bid phase services …”
Among the preferred qualifications of any company planning to submit a bid is that it be pre-qualified by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) “in Work Class 4.1.2 Minor Bridge Design and Work Class 5.4 Bridge Load Rating.”
Each document also notes that the project will be “funded in whole or in part” by FDOT through what is called a Local Agency Program Grant.
In December 2023, the County Commission approved Local Agency Program Agreements with FDOT, so the state could provide $2 million apiece for the Bahia Vista and Beneva Road overpasses. The total estimated expense of each project is $2,221,688, according to formal resolutions that the commissioners approved on Dec. 12, 2023, to add the initiatives to the county’s Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2024 through 2028.
The rest of the funding will come from North County Park Impact Fees, as noted in the detailed 2026 fiscal year budget document that county staff produced prior to the County Commission’s final vote in late September on the budget. The fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
County Capital Improvement Program information included in that document says that the plan is for both overpasses to be completed by the end of September 2026. The total estimated cost for each project is the same as the figure provided to the commissioners in December 2023.
A county staff memo included in the agenda packet for the Dec. 12, 2023 board meeting pointed out, “The two pedestrian overpasses where The Legacy Trail crosses Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street are vital to creating livable, attractive, and vibrant communities. With nearly 650,000 users annually, The Legacy Trail provides mobility access to all users regardless of age, ability, income, race, and ethnicity. It will provide safe, comfortable, and convenient access to community destinations and public places — whether walking, driving, bicycling, or taking public transportation.”
In each of the advertisements that the Procurement Department published this week, the Scope of Services section explains, “The bridge width and approaches shall be designed to connect with the existing Legacy Trail Extension and be consistent with the typical sections at that location. The bridge is to be located within the existing boundaries of County-owned land. The design services include, but are not limited to, utility improvements and utility adjustments, drainage improvements, structural walls, safety design, resurfacing, lighting, landscape and hardscape design, signs and signals, temporary traffic control, permitting services and any other necessary improvements. The County’s intent is to obtain engineering services supportive of the creation of this overpass, together with those services and features that are reasonably necessary to provide safe and usable structures consistent with the look and feel of the Legacy Trail.”
Further, each of those sections points out, “The design will consider the existing site constraints, including but not limited to, impacts to local businesses, resident interests, environmental requirements, private property, easements, utilities, geotechnical data and traffic data provided by the County as a basis for the design.”
The Bahia Vista overpass bid is due on Jan. 5, 2026, the county’s Procurement webpages show, while the Beneva Road overpass bid is due on Jan. 12, 2026.
Companies planning to submit bids also are being directed to “[p]rovide a graphical representation of the proposed project schedule/timeline indicating major milestones and deliverables.”
As the News Leader has reported, Legacy Trail overpasses of Bee Ridge Road and Clark Road were completed earlier this year.
The final segment of the North Extension of the Trail, to Payne Park in downtown Sarasota, opened on March 3, 2022, “two years and nine months ahead of the original schedule,” as Nicole Rissler, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department, noted during the festivities held that day.
The formal connector from Venice to North Port officially opened to the public on Sept. 9, 2022.