Completion of initiative anticipated this summer
With the timeline still calling for completion of the work this summer, the Sarasota County Capital Projects Department announced late last week that the Siesta Key Resurfacing Project would be resuming this week, following the end of high tourist season.
The resurfacing of Beach Road from the Midnight Pass Road intersection to Columbus Boulevard has been planned from mid-May to early June, Sarasota County Commissioner Mark Smith informed the Siesta Key Condominium Council, which issued an advisory about the timeline. That will take place between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and require lane closures, the advisory added.
This week, the county’s contractor has been working on modifications to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp and the sidewalk at the intersection of Beach Road and Midnight Pass Road, the Council advisory continued.
In an April 25 county YouTube video, Shelly Walters, communications specialist for the county’s the Capital Projects Department, interviewed Craig Pike, the county staffer who is managing the Siesta work.
Pike explained that staff knew a few roads would need to be resurfaced either before or after high tourist season, and the 2024 hurricanes that wreaked damage on Siesta ended up pushing the timeline to post-season.
The project began on Aug. 7, 2024. In an Oct. 1, 2024 video, Carolyn Eastwood, director of the Capital Projects Department, announced that staff was suspending the undertaking to allow residents, business owners and county staff to focus on the island’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
“We’ve completed about a third of the roads that we intended to resurface,” Eastwood reported in that approximately 41-second-long clip.
“There will be short-term lane closures,” project manager Pike told Walters in the April 25 YouTube video. He urged motorists to pay attention to flaggers, for safety reasons.
Residents will be given about three days of notice via door hangers about resurfacing planned near them, Pike added.
One other detail that Commissioner Smith shared with the Condominium Council, its advisory to members pointed out, is that the county’s Public Works Department had requested the resurfacing of Ocean Boulevard north of Siesta Village, between Gleason Avenue and Higel Avenue, a distance of approximately 1,000 feet.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry about that part of the upcoming work, Paula Wiggins the transportation planning manager, reported the following in an April 29 email: “In the past five years, there have been 27 crashes on Ocean Boulevard between Gleason Avenue and Higel Avenue. The county has received requests to improve the roadway’s safety. Modifications to the roadway at the curve are planned. The modifications include the improving the superelevation of the roadway and associated sidewalk and driveway improvements. The tentative start date of the project is June 17th.”