County’s Transportation Department director provides status of seven top road projects in Aug. 17 memo to County Commission
The planned improvements at the intersection of South River Road and Winchester Boulevard in South Sarasota County are set to begin late this year, thanks to the county’s receipt of federal funding, while the county commissioners on Sept. 8 are expected to vote on a proposed construction agreement regarding the 2.42-mile Segment B portion of Lorraine Road South to Knights Trail Road.
Those were just two of the details in an Aug. 17 memo that Spencer Anderson, director of the county’s Transportation Department, provided to the County Commission in regard to the status of their seven top road project priorities.
In April, during a workshop on transportation issues, the board members asked that Anderson send them regular updates on the Transportation Department’s work. The Aug. 17 memo, which was a response to that direction, went out about five-and-a half weeks before the commissioners are scheduled to discuss the county’s thoroughfare plans during their regular meeting on Sept. 23.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, Anderson calls the board’s top road initiatives the “Seven Connect.” They are as follows:
- The River Road Regional Interstate Connector, which entails the widening of South River Road and Winchester Boulevard — 7.2 miles — from U.S. 41 to the county line.
- The widening of Laurel Road from two lanes to a four-lane divided route from Knights Trail Road to Jacaranda Boulevard, a total of 1.4 miles.
- The 2.3-mile East Manasota Beach Road Extension, which is planned to run from 0.6 miles east of State Road 776 to the county line; it would be a two-lane road.
- The south extension of Lorraine Road from Clark Road to Knights Trail Road, a distance of 8 miles.
- The widening of 1 mile of Bee Ridge Road to a four-lane divided route between Bent Tree Boulevard and Lorraine Road.
- Lorraine Road North, a new, four-lane divided road between Fruitville Road and Palmer Boulevard, a distance of 2 miles.
- The widening of Fruitville Road from Debrecen Road to Lorraine Road, a distance of 1.4 miles.
Anderson provided updates on each of those projects in his Aug. 17 memo.
Timelines and delays
In regard to the River Road Regional Interstate Connector, Anderson reported that the design and permitting for that initiative are expected to be complete in the fall of 2027, “with a possible construction start in late 2027.” The estimated construction expense, he added, is $88 million.
He noted that staff is “working with the adjacent landowners along [South] River Road to complete right of way acquisitions and transfers.”
As for the widening of Laurel Road: Anderson wrote that the county’s “[d]evelopment partner expects construction bids on September 3,” with the draft construction agreement to be finalized for the County Commission’s consideration after the total cost has been determined.
Regarding the East Manasota Beach Road Extension, Anderson noted that the issuance of the permit that the county needs from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) “has been appealed by an adjacent property owner. A State Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) approved [a motion filed by the Office of the County Attorney] to dismiss [the appeal] and allowed the property owner to revise [the] appeal by Aug. 5 …” That revised appeal was submitted to SWFWMD, Anderson continued.
The Office of the County Attorney “is working with SWFWMD and the project professionals to finalize a new motion to dismiss the revised appeal,” he added. A hearing before the administrative law judge is scheduled for the week of Sept. 21, Anderson wrote. However, he pointed out, that likely will not be necessary if the administrative law judge rules favorably on the new motion to dismiss the appeal.
“Our developer partner [for that project plans] to solicit construction bids as soon as the SWFWMD [permit has been] issued,” he added.
The total cost of constructing that extension, Anderson pointed out, is $15 million, which will be covered by county mobility fees. Contractually, he wrote, the work has to be completed by June 2029.
In regard to Lorraine Road South, Anderson reported that the design is complete for Segment C, which comprises 3.57 miles. Construction is anticipated to start in early 2027, he added, at an expense of $70 million. The construction agreement has been planned for commission consideration late this year, Anderson noted.
He did remind the board members that the Legislature appropriated $15 million for that segment.
Turning to the Bee Ridge Road widening, Anderson wrote that the construction schedule — at an estimate of $28 million — has yet to be determined. However, he noted, “Developer partner has started design.”
In regard to Lorraine Road North, Anderson pointed out that the design should be complete late this year, with construction — estimated at $50 million — expected to start in late 2027. Staff is working with the county’s property management staff, he indicated, to acquire the necessary right of way.
The Fruitville Road widening from Debrecen Road to Lorraine Road, with an estimated expense of $25 million, possibly could begin in the spring of 2027, Anderson wrote. The right of way acquisition is underway, he continued. However, he explained, “The development partner for the project design, permitting and [right of way] phases recently incurred a 4-5 month delay in the ROW acquisition process” because the developer had included “incorrect parcel boundaries on the sketch and descriptions approved by the [commissioners] in February … This will delay completion of the ROW acquisition” to early 2027.
Moreover, he pointed out, the “[d]evelopment partners that originally expressed an interest in completing the construction phase are no longer interested.” Therefore, Anderson continued, after all of the right of way has been acquired, the county’s Capital Projects Department staff “plans to solicit formal construction bids.”
The River Road money
Anderson also reported in the memo that the Seven Connect projects have a total estimated expense of $329 million, with $302.5 million in funding available. The only one of them with a funding deficit as of that time, he continued, was the South River Road Regional Interstate Connector: $26.5 million.
Staff had been working on ideas about filling that gap, Anderson added.
After the News Leader inquired about a funding breakdown for the River Road Regional Interstate Connector Project (RRRIC), staff of the Transportation Department and the county’s Resilient SRQ Program responded in a Sept. 2 memo. (The Resilient SRQ Program involves County Commission allocations of the approximately $411.6 million split between two grants that the county has received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to respond to unmet needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in 2022 and the four storms in the 2024 hurricane season.)
The following details were in the Sept. 2 email:
- Two phases of the River Road Regional Interstate Connector (RRRIC) Project remain, the staff wrote. They are Phase 4 — South River Road (U.S. 41 to Winchester Boulevard); and Phase 5 — Winchester Boulevard (South River Road to the County Line).
“There are two types of federal funding applied to the RRRIC,” the email continued: $2 million in Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds, which “are being applied to two initial subset RRRIC projects: Installation of the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) traffic signal communication system fiber network along South River Road from [U.S.] 41 to Winchester Boulevard and the short intersection/widening project of Winchester Boulevard from South River Road to [1,000 feet] south on Winchester Boulevard. These are both sub-projects to the overall RRRIC program and need to happen prior to the overall widening projects” because of the FHWA funding requirements. “These will begin later this calendar year.”
Another $70,325,616 is coming out of the Resilient SRQ funds, the email pointed out. (See the related article in this issue.) The County Commission approved those allocations to the project, the email continued, “which is the major funding source for the RRRIC and is primarily being applied to RRRIC Phase 4.”
The News Leader also had inquired about a federal budget appropriation that U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican who represents District 17, had sought.
The Sept. 2 email explained, “Please note the $1.5M of federal funding mentioned in the inquiry was ultimately eliminated during last year’s federal budget resolution and is being removed from the funding plan.”