Event to begin at 6 p.m. at 1001 Sarasota Center Blvd.
On Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m., members of the Sarasota County Transportation Department will host a neighborhood workshop to present the county’s Future Thoroughfare Plan and to encourage discussion of it, county staff has announced.
Residents, stakeholders and property owners are encouraged to attend it, a news release notes.
The event will be held at 1001 Sarasota Center Blvd. in Sarasota (34240), the release says. The structure standing at that address is known as the BOB building.
This initiative will support the county’s long-range transportation planning efforts, as staff works to forecast travel demand in analyzing potential scenarios for the future, the release adds.
The Transportation Department comprises the staff members of what was the Public Works Department, except for those involved with stormwater issues.
The following items are proposed for discussion on Jan. 21, the release points out:
- “Traffic forecasting for 2030 and 2045, incorporating updated land use, development, and roadway data.
- “Identification of potential new thoroughfare roadways and re-evaluation of the existing thoroughfare network,” which will be necessary to accommodate projected growth.”
- The evaluation of Keyway Road from Englewood Road to West Villages Parkway, for either its removal from the county’s records as a future thoroughfare or for a potential reduction in lanes.
In 2025, during a number of public hearings — and as part of their budget workshops — county commissioners expressed concerns about the need for the widening of specific roads to accommodate growth in the community. They also have pointed to a lack of funding to pay for projects that they and staff have identified as priorities. Discussion at times focused on public-private partnerships — especially involving developers of new communities — to try to speed up some of the construction.
During their May 21, 2025 budget workshop, the commissioners affirmed that their top road priority is a four-lane Lorraine Road south from Clark Road to Knights Trail Road in the Venice area. That was unchanged from the position of the board during a May 2024 discussion, as The Sarasota News Leaderreported.
Among their other top goals for transportation improvements, as noted during that May 2025 workshop, are the following:
- The widening of Fruitville Road from two to four lanes from the Debrecen Road intersection to the Lorraine Road intersection.
- The construction of four lanes of Lorraine Road from Fruitville Road to Palmer Boulevard.
- The widening of Cattlemen Road from the Fruitville Road intersection to the Palmer Boulevard intersection from two to four lanes.