County Commission agrees to redirect remaining FDOT money to South River Road project
On a unanimous vote taken on July 10, the Sarasota County commissioners formally halted the plans to construct a roundabout at the intersection of Beach Road and Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key, near Siesta Public Beach.
Instead, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis will work with representatives of the Florida Department of Transportation’s District One office to use part of the department funding set aside for the roundabout to resurface the intersection and undertake some related work. County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson estimated that expense would be between $400,000 and $500,000.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader request for clarification in regard to those plans, Anderson said, via email on July 10, “The intent is to resurface existing paved surfaces and upgrade existing crosswalk ramps to meet current ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] standards.”
The rest of the approximately $4 million that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) had committed to the roundabout initiative will be allocated to the planned widening of South River Road and related improvements, Commissioner Ron Cutsinger’s motion said.
“There’s a sigh of relief on Siesta Key right now,” Commissioner Mark Smith, who lives on the island, told his colleagues after he seconded the motion. He appreciated his colleagues’ desire to see the resurfacing project take place while a contractor is at work on the island already, handling county-directed repaving work, Smith said.
“And I’m grateful we’re able to help South River Road,” Smith added, noting that the board should keep finding the needed funding for that undertaking “until it’s done.”
Cutsinger was the first to agree with Smith about stopping the roundabout plans. It is clear, Cutsinger said, that no desperate need exists for the initiative.
Cutsinger, who represents District 5, in the southernmost part of the county, has advocated for the South River Road project to be completed as soon as possible.
On July 10, Anderson confirmed that FDOT staff members were agreeable to the South River Road option.
During the May 15 budget workshop, after Anderson explained that the only valid bid the county had received for the roundabout was approximately $8.9 million, Commissioner Smith called for scrapping the project.
Other board members then expressed an interest in the potential use of the funds for the South River Road element of the overall River Road regional connector. County Administrator Jonathan Lewis told them he would need to find out from FDOT leaders whether the money dedicated to the roundabout could be used for another county initiative.
The “first thing I would ask,” Lewis added, would be whether the South River Road work would qualify.
Although FDOT originally pledged approximately $2.9 million to the Siesta roundabout initiative, Anderson said on July 10, department officials had offered to add $1.1 million more.
He did acknowledge that while FDOT staff “always committed to fully funding the [roundabout] project,” that was a verbal commitment only.
District One staff had suggested that Sarasota County staff might want to try rebidding the roundabout initiative within 12 to 18 months, Anderson told the commissioners.
At present, he pointed out, “The industry … is really difficult to put a pin on with bidding.”
FDOT staff recently had encountered a bid situation similar to the one that county staff had seen with the Siesta undertaking, he continued. He believes that involved an FDOT project planned in Manatee County, Anderson said.
As he had during a May budget workshop discussion with the commissioners, he noted that the FDOT thinking is that bid conditions might change within the next year to year and a half.
Anderson also reminded the commissioners that FDOT had agreed to allocate the original $2.9 million to the roundabout project as part of a “road swap” agreement with the County Commission, which was finalized in 2020.
FDOT leaders long had told Sarasota County commissioners that the state could not justify giving a high priority for funding to what is being called the River Road Regional Interstate Connector Project as long as River Road remained a county road.
In response to that situation, in the late summer of 2017, then-County Administrator Tom Harmer announced that county staff had begun working with FDOT representatives on the transfer of North River Road — from U.S. 41 to Interstate 75 — to state control. In return, the county would assume authority over the roads on Siesta Key. Then-FDOT Secretary Kevin J. Thibault signed the relevant documents on Feb. 18, 2020.
2020 survey results reprised
Yet another issue Anderson reprised during his July 10 discussion with the board members was the fact that, in October 2020, staff conducted public outreach about the Siesta roundabout project by creating a survey. Respondents were asked to choose among three options: the roundabout, an improved signalized intersection, or no change at the intersection.
Of the 552 online responses, 33.15% favored the roundabout, though 47.15% of those replies came from persons who do not live on Siesta Key.
Overall, the survey results showed, nearly 62% favored the improved signalized intersection or no change.
Siesta Key Association members have stressed the survey results in continued opposition to the roundabout, as the News Leader has reported.
On July 10, Commissioner Smith again pointed to the survey results in an exchange with Anderson. “Basically, 62% of the folks didn’t want the roundabout,” Smith said. His interactions with people on the Key had made it clear that they want the intersection to remain as it is, Smith added.
Commissioner Joe Neunder did suggest that if the board members in the future choose to consider again the potential of a roundabout at the Beach-Midnight Pass roads intersection, they ensure that a new staff survey eliminate the “No change” option.
SKA thank the BOCC for passing the elimination of the Midnight Pass/Beach Road roundabout project. The repaving and sidewalk improvements will be a nice add back project.