Sarasota County staff provides detour details
Sarasota County staff will close a portion of Myakka Road beginning Monday, May 5, so a culvert can be replaced and drainage in the area can be improved, the county has announced.
The closure will affect access to the north entrance of Myakka River State Park, which stands at 13208 State Road 72, a county advisory says.
Myakka Road will be closed to through traffic south of the bridge and north of Clay Gully Road, the county advisory points out. Drivers will be detoured north on Verna Road to Historic Florida 780 in Manatee County, and then east to State Road 70 and south on MJ Road, to reach Clay Gully Road, the advisory explains.
The roadwork and closure are expected to continue through July, the advisory notes. “Drivers should allow extra time and use caution when following detour routes,” it adds.
In February 2024, Sarasota County’s Public Works Department ordered Myakka Road closed between Hancock Road and Clay Gully Road after receiving an engineering report identifying conditions of three large culverts under Myakka Road (0.44 miles north of Clay Gully Road), a county news release explained at that time. Those culverts had deteriorated to the point that it no longer was safe for vehicles to travel on that part of the road, the release pointed out.
The culvert crossing consists of three corrugated steel plate pipes, with each pipe having a span of approximately 12 feet, that release said. “The visual inspection of the culvert by engineers revealed severe structural deterioration.”