FDOT District One staff to conduct presentations next week on draft Tentative Five-Year Work Program for 2025-26 through 2029-30, including Sarasota County projects

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Multiple opportunities provided for public participation

Image courtesy FDOT

Next week, the District One staff of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will conduct both in-person and virtual presentations on the department’s draft Tentative Five-Year Work Program — which includes improvements scheduled for Sarasota County — for fiscal years 2025-26 through 2029-30, FDOT has announced.

The public may participate in the presentations in one of three ways, a news release explains:

  • In-person and virtually — The District One staff will conduct a formal presentation at its Bartow office (801 N. Broadway Ave.) from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Dec. 11, and at the same time in its Fort Myers office (10041 Daniels Parkway). Persons also have the option of attending a session virtually at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5302437049812749659.
  • Public hearing — FDOT representatives will be available from Monday, Dec. 9, through Friday Dec. 13, during business hours at the district offices, by appointment, to review project materials with members of the public. A person may call the Bartow office at 863-519-2907 or the Fort Myers office at 239-225-1900 to schedule an appointment.
  • Self-guided online (ePublic Hearing) —Both SWFLRoads.comand fdot.gov/wpph/district1 webpages can be accessed from a computer, tablet or mobile device with internet service. “Each of the local public library systems within the FDOT District One territory provides access to computers” and internet service, a news release points out. The ePublic Hearing will be open and available on Monday, Dec. 11. The hours of Sarasota County public libraries are available through the county website.

FDOT staff will accept comments from the public as long as it receives them by the close of business on Friday, Dec. 13, the release adds. Comments may be mailed to L.K. Nandam, P.E., District Secretary, FDOT, 10041 Daniels Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33913, Attention: Wayne Gaither, Southwest Area Office Director. Comments also may be sent via email to wayne.gaither@dot.state.fl.us.

A Sarasota News Leader review of the draft Tentative Five-Year Work Program, as of Oct. 6, found that it included 16 pages of projects for Sarasota County for the fiscal years 2025-26 through 2028-29. Among them are improvements planned at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) and the Venice Municipal Airport. At SRQ, those include a parking garage at the terminal, runway rehabilitation, a new baggage handling system and expansion of the West Apron. For the Venice facility, rehabilitation of the taxi lanes and construction of hangars and a maintenance facility are on tap.

Other projects planned for Sarasota county are as follows:

  • Addition of lanes at the Bee Ridge Road interchange with Interstate 75.
  • Addition of lanes at the State Road 681 interchange with I-75.
  • Addition of lanes at the Fruitville Road interchange with I-75.
  • The replacement of the Little Ringling Bridge between Bird Key Drive and Sarasota Harbor West at an expense of close to $67.2 million in the 2028 fiscal year.
  • Modification of the median on Clark Road between the Swift Road and Sawyer Road intersections, with completion shown in the 2026 fiscal year. The current Five-Year Work Program for District One says staff anticipates letting the contract for the work in February 2026. The advertisement for bids tentatively is set to begin in July 2025.
  • The rehabilitation of the Siesta Drive Bridge between the mainland and Siesta Key at a total expense of close to $5 million. That is primarily planned for the 2026 fiscal year.
  • The resurfacing of I-75 between State Road 681 and Fruitville Road, at an estimated expense of $31,994,688 in the 2026 fiscal year.
  • The resurfacing of State Road 72 from the U.S. 41 intersection to east of Honore Avenue, at a projected cost of $29,445,176 in the 2026 fiscal year.
  • The resurfacing of U.S. 41 from north of 14th Street to south of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Sarasota.
  • The resurfacing of U.S. 41 in Sarasota from north of the Myrtle Street intersection to the Edwards Drive intersection in the 2026 fiscal year.
  • The resurfacing of State Road 789 from Longboat Club Road to the Manatee County line in the 2027 fiscal year.
  • The resurfacing of U.S. 301 from U.S. 41 to south of 10th Street in Sarasota in the 2026 fiscal year.
  • Construction of the Legacy Trail overpasses at Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street, with each project scheduled in the 2028 fiscal year at an estimated cost of $6,001,000 apiece.