Sarasota in motion ...

The City of Sarasota is preparing its first citywide transportation master plan, which will serve as a playbook for how the City not only invests in transportation infrastructure, but also how it achieves the community’s larger quality of life goals.  City staff are working to gather input to address major traffic and transportation issues in the City of Sarasota:

• How can streets be safer?
• How can we improve the reliability of travel time to work, particularly as we grow?
• How can we expand travel options so more people can walk, bike, or take transit?
• How do we plan for a future with autonomous vehicles and other new transportation technology?

Learn about the status of the transportation master plan by reviewing survey results, reports and presentations.  You can also view the Interactive Map (example below) to see where other persons have recorded their experience challenges in the mobility network, and where they think improvements should be prioritized.

1. Why Do People Keep Being Killed on This Road?  by Charles Marohn | December 10, 2018

Tragedy predictably occurs when our road designs combine high speeds and randomness.

 2. Three Cheers for Minneapolis (The 3 is for Triplex)  by Daniel Herriges | December 12, 2018

Minneapolis just became the first major U.S. city in a long time to embrace a key Strong Towns principle: every neighborhood should be allowed to evolve to the next increment of development.

 3. If We Win, You Won’t Hear About It  by Daniel Herriges | December 5, 2018

If Strong Towns is successful—really successful—you won’t hear about it, because the vast majority of the change we produce won’t be attributed to us at all. It will be embedded in the broader culture.

 4. Let Them Apply for Variances  by Nolan Gray | December 6, 2018

If granting exceptions to your city’s planning rules is so common as to have become the norm, perhaps it’s time to reconsider the rules themselves.

 5. Best of 2018: Why Walkable Streets are More Economically Productive  by Rachel Quednau | December 4, 2018

When we aim for perfection, imperfections will disturb us. But, when we aim for imperfection, other imperfections build character.

December 15th, 2018

March 12, 2018  –  The Francis, 1289 N Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236

DSCA Workshop on Transportation Planning provided updates on the latest transportation projects and plans affecting the City of Sarasota.

Learn about the latest status and plans for:

• Roundabouts on US41 (14^th St & 10^th St, Fruitville, Gulfstream, Main St & Ringling Blvd.)

• Median project (Fruitville-to-Gulfstream) and pedestrian crossings at 1^st Street across US41

• Recommended projects from the Sarasota/Manatee Barrier Islands Traffic Study

• Roundabouts in Downtown Sarasota and Fruitville Streetscape Enhancement Project

Review all videos & slides from the panel of experts (click on presenter’s name for link to individual video):

• Colleen McGue, Chief Transportation Planner, City of Sarasota – Panel Moderator

Colleen McGue moved to Sarasota, Florida from Austin, Texas in 2011. Prior to moving here, she majored in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame where she received her BA and went on to receive her dual-master’s degree in Community & Regional Planning and Latin American Studies from the University of Texas.  Her first job in Sarasota was working for the non-profit community engagement organization, SCOPE (Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence), on their community data initiative. For the past four years, Colleen was Principal Transportation Planner at the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, working closely with the state and local government agencies in Sarasota and Manatee Counties on regional transportation planning.  In February 2018, Colleen was hired by the City of Sarasota as Chief Transportation Planner. Since then she has been enjoying a shorter commute to work (sometimes on her bicycle) from her home in the Indian Beach Sapphire Shores neighborhood here in Sarasota.  In her free time, Colleen enjoys going for walks in her neighborhood, cooking Tex-Mex food, and watching football (Go Irish!).

• David Hutchison, Executive Director, Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization[Slide Presentation: DSCA-MPO-20180312x]

David L. Hutchinson serves as Executive Director of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) since 2015.  He was previously the Planning Manager at MPO for 4 years.  David has a BS in Environmental Studies from Utah State University, and is a Member of American Planning Association, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and the Congress for the New Urbanism.

• L.K. Nandam, Secretary District 1, Florida Department of Transportation [Slide Presentation: DSCA-FDOT-Nandam-20180312]

L.K. Nandam currently serves as the Secretary District 1, Florida Department of Transportation, since Nov. 2016.  Prior to that, he served as the Director of Operations, District Traffic Operations Engineer for a number of years. He has previously served in other positions, including at the local government level, and with a private sector engineering firm.  District One represents 12 counties in Southwestern Florida.  LK has a Masters in Transportation Engineering from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Andhra University, India. LK is a registered professional engineer in Florida and is an active member of Institute of Transportation Engineers.

• Alex Davis-Shaw, City Engineer, City of Sarasota [Slide Presentation: DSCA-City-ADS-20180312]

Alex Davis-Shaw is the City Engineer for the City of Sarasota and has been with the City for 28 years.  She has a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Alex is a licensed professional engineer and a professional traffic operations engineer;  a fellow member of the Florida Engineering Society and sits on State of Florida Greenbook Committee.  Alex is married and I has a 16 year old daughter.

 

View video of the panelists Question & Answer session here.

 

View additional audience Questions and Answers here:

March 12th, 2018

On May 22, DSCA held a transportation Focus Group at the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce with representatives of the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).  The group reviewed and provided feedback on the MPO Long Range Transportation Plans, as well as prioritization of future projects.

On Aug 3, several members of the DSCA Board attended the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Public Hearing at Selby Library, regarding US-41 Traffic Separator Project from Gulfstream to Fruitville Road.  In additional to verbal and written comments provided individually at the hearing, the DSCA Board approved on Aug. 5^th to send a letter to FDOT expressing recommendations to insure that this project will balance the needs for increased mobility of pedestrians and a safe transportation system for local residents, while considering the efficiency of traffic moving through downtown Sarasota.

DSCA sponsored a forum on Transportation Mobility Plans on August 10, 2015 with an audience that filled the Herald Tribune community room.  This forum, titled: Update onTransportation Mobility Plans in Downtown Sarasota included the following panelsists, along with Peter Fanning as moderator:

• Ryan Chapdelain, Chief Planner, City of Sarasota
• Alexandrea DavisShaw, City Engineer, City of Sarasota
• Daniel Ohrenstein, Assistant City Engineer, City of Sarasota
• Karin Murphy, Director, Urban Design Studio, City of Sarasota

Topics of discussion included Transportation Mobility Plans, Roundabouts, Complete Streets, Traffic Studies, Infrastructure Improvements, Land Use and Transportation Planning, and Traffic and Multimodal Transportation Solutions.

The City staff presented slides at the forum with a great deal of valuable information which you can download and review.  You can also view a video of the event with presentations and Question-Answer period, which was broadcast live (85 minutes long) using the Meerkat iPhone application and viewed live by 183 people.

News coverage of the DSCA Forum included this article:

http://www.yourobserver.com/article/downtown-condo-residents-talk-traffic-troubles

August 17th, 2015

Treat yourself to a walking tour at your on leisure. Click on the full size map link, print, go to Selby Five Points Park or any other location on the map and begin walking.  Also, if you haven’t seen Selby Five Points Park all lit up, you might want to time your walk to finish at the park at dusk. The lights come on at 6:00 P.M.

 

Click here to link to full-size map on City of Sarasota website.

 

January 2nd, 2014

Maybe you have forgotten by now, but soon, well in “government” time a Bayfront Mooring Field will be established. Geotechnical Analysis of the bottom of the bay where the moorings are to be place is continuing as of this posting. Once this has been completed, Requests for Proposals for anchor design and installation will be advertised and a review of proposals completed by the end of June to mid July. The City Commission will then be presented with contracts for approval and installation will begin. Hopefully, but again, remember we are working on government time, completion of the Mooring Field is scheduled for the end of August.

 

January 2nd, 2012

The City Commission at its January 3^rd meeting agreed to authorize the Mayor (Kelly Kirschner), City Auditor and Clerk to enter into an agreement with Duncan Technologies to implement an on street paid parking plan. This plan anticipates that approximately 620 on street spaces will become “pay-to-use” parking spaces. It continues to be the intent of the staff and Vendor to have installation, including parking areas adjacent to the Palm Avenue, 2nd Street and Ringling Blvd garages completed by May of this year. Staff will bring additional information to the Commissioners in February including the intended rate schedule for the proposed paid parking.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions includes reducing the clutter by cleaning out the garage or storage area and you come across bicycles that are no longer used, consider a donation to Bicycles for the Homeless Inc. This organization seeks bicycles in any condition to be reconditioned and upgraded for safety, if necessary. The bicycles are then provided to homeless adults and children as transportation to jobs, interviews, school and the like. Check them out at www.BicyclesForTheHomeless.org.

November 24th, 2010

It’s highly unlikely that we as downtown residents, our visiting friends and tourists will have to put up with unsightly parking meters. However, based on discussions by the City Commission and City Staff, it is highly likely that we will be paying for parking in some of the prime areas that are free today. With the Palm Avenue Parking Garage moving along and an opening date of early December, the City is anxious to encourage people to think about parking in the garage as a first option rather than on the street.