Design and construction plans moving forward
With a unanimous vote — but no comments — the Sarasota County commissioners on May 5 approved the expenditure of $250,000 for the design and initial construction work on the modification of a Legacy Trail segment that has been planned from the 17th Street Regional Park to Nathan Benderson Park, which is located just south of the Mall at University Town Center.
This new portion of The Legacy Trail will be 12 feet wide, as pointed out in a document included in the board’s May 5 agenda packet. “This is a section of the connection between the Legacy Trail and Lakewood Ranch, extending through Nathan Benderson Park with an anticipated connection to [a planned, future Interstate 75] overpass,” the document added.
The item was listed on the agenda as a Presentation Upon Request, indicating that it was not controversial. Unless a commissioner wishes to ask questions about one of those items, a board member usually makes a motion and another seconds the motion, with the vote following immediately.
In this case, Commissioner Teresa Mast made the motion, which formally called for adopting a resolution to amend the county’s 2026 fiscal year budget to appropriate the $250,000 to the county’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
A staff memo included in the agenda packet explained, “The original proposed route of the trail” ran on the north side of 17th Street as far as the intersection of Honore Avenue “and then north along the eastern edge of Honore Avenue to the south edge of [Nathan Benderson Park, which the county owns].”
However, the memo pointed out, because of a conflict with Florida Power & Light Co.’s “overhead transmission lines and potential expansion of these facilities, the trail will continue on the eastern edge of Honore Avenue to Athletes Drive.” Then, the memo said, the trail will continue on the north side of Athletes Drive, running east and connecting to the existing trail system within Benderson Park.
The last action the commission had taken in regard to the trail had come on Jan. 30, 2024; that was a vote authorizing the execution of a contract with the Kimly-Horn consulting firm in Sarasota for the design of the project.
The funding for management of the initiative will come out of North County Parks Impact Fees, the memo indicated. The money needed for the initial construction work will be taken out of revenue derived from the county’s extra penny of sales tax — known as the Surtax program — which has been set aside for transportation infrastructure, the memo added.
Moreover, the memo noted, “A grant from the Florida Department of Transportation will be presented to the [County Commission] in the Summer for approval …” That will provide the additional $2,988,871 for construction, the memo said.