Gridlock

The Longboat Key Town Commission’s Tuesday workshop started 15 minutes late. The reason: Commissioners, who had a joint meeting with the Manatee County Commission in Bradenton, were stuck in traffic.

Seasonal traffic is in part a factor of living in what many call “paradise.” On Longboat Key, the year-round population is just less than 7,000. At peak spring season, the population swells to 22,000, meaning more cars on the road.

But a host of other factors contribute to Longboat Key’s traffic woes, and they mostly lie beyond the town’s borders and jurisdiction, in the two entrances to the island.

Problem Spots
1. New Pass Bridge, Longboat Pass Bridge, Cortez Bridge
The problem: Frequent bridge openings bring traffic to a standstill for at least four or five minutes at both the north and south ends of the Key.

For the New Pass Bridge at the south end, the bridge must open every 20 minutes when boats are present — yes, up to three times an hour — between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., the bridge must open on signal with at least three hours’ notice.

At the north end, the Longboat Pass Bridge opens on demand for boaters.

The Cortez Bridge, which connects Bradenton Beach to mainland Manatee County, opens on demand every 20 minutes between May 16 and Jan. 14, and every 30 minutes on demand from Jan. 15 through May 15, which contributes to gridlock at the north end.

Potential solution: Making changes to drawbridge opening times isn’t as simple as lobbying your local officials. The U.S. Coast Guard has jurisdiction over drawbridge openings.

2. Bradenton Beach traffic circle
The problem: The roundabout is at the center of beach traffic, with many shops and restaurants surrounding it. Commissioner Phill Younger calls it “the world’s smallest traffic circle” and said it’s difficult for trucks and trailers to get around it. A 2007 traffic study found the roundabout had insufficient capacity.

Potential solutions: Unclear. Town and Bradenton Beach officials have discussed the situation, and traffic congestion is a topic an Urban Land Institute panel will examine next week in its study of Anna Maria Island.

3. Traffic lights at Longboat Club Road and Ken Thompson Parkway
The problem: Many individuals on Longboat and St. Armands keys believe that the timing of the signals should be more harmonious.

“What happens is you get stopped at one, and then you get stopped again,” said Hugh Fiore, president of the St. Armands Residents Association, at a Feb. 3 meeting with FDOT officials.

Potential solution: FDOT District 1 Traffic Operations Manager L.K. Nandam agreed to look into the timing of several signals, including those at Club Longboat Road and Ken Thompson Parkway, although stakeholders at the Feb. 4 meeting agreed traffic troubles won’t be solved with timing adjustments.

4. John Ringling Boulevard on St. Armands Circle
The problem: The road that leads to and from Lido Beach is a single lane in each direction.

Potential solutions: The city of Sarasota agreed to eliminate 11 parallel parking spaces along John Ringling Boulevard to make the road two lanes in October 2010 but reversed course just a couple weeks later after merchants objected.

Longboat Key commissioners still believe eliminating the spaces could alleviate traffic flowing to and from Lido Beach, but the idea is unlikely to gain traction due to a lack of parking on St. Armands Circle — another source of congestion.

5. All of St. Armands Circle
The problem: Traffic slows to a crawl during season, as drivers look for a spot on the Circle. Congestion is exacerbated by frequent pedestrian crossings.

Potential solutions: Adding crossing guards to the Circle could control pedestrian traffic, although funding isn’t currently available. As for parking, the Sarasota City Commission will discuss a report about the feasibility of building a parking garage on the Circle. Even if the commission eventually approves a garage, construction is likely years away.

6. Country Club Shores area
The problem: When drivers seek to make a turn on portions of the two-lane Gulf of Mexico Drive with no turning lanes, traffic behind the vehicle is delayed until the driver makes the turn. Near Country Club Shores, located just north of the New Pass Bridge, the lack of a turn lane can exacerbate already heavy traffic.

Potential solution: The Longboat Key Town Commission will discuss the possibility of adding turning lanes at Country Club Shores. FDOT controls Gulf of Mexico Drive and would need to sign off on any request.

Are there more cars on the road?
It sure does seem like it if you ask the town’s license-plate recognition cameras. The cameras snapped 169,678 valid tag readings in January 2014, compared with 317,064 in January 2015.

The cameras don’t offer a perfect measure of how many cars are on the road. When Longboat Key Police Communications Supervisor Tina Adams looked at license plate “hits” over the past year, she found certain days in which counts were significantly lower compared with other days in the week, which suggests the cameras weren’t working.

Still, Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming believes the numbers are a good indicator that there are more cars on the road this year.

“I would never say they’re accurate to a particular count of cars because of technical ups and downs,” Cumming said. “But I would say that they (numbers) are a pretty good estimate.”

Future factors
The following developments could impact how traffic flows onto and around Longboat Key.

Ten condo and hotel projects are slated to open in downtown Sarasota through 2016, which will add traffic.

FDOT is considering placing pedestrian crosswalks throughout Gulf of Mexico Drive, which could slow down traffic.

The town is studying the feasibility of roundabouts at Club Longboat Road at the south end and Broadway at the north end.

If FDOT eventually opts to replace the Cortez Bridge, a new structure with two lanes and/or a fixed span could mitigate traffic.

Unlikely to happen in our lifetimes
A bridge from the mainland to Longboat: The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization last studied the possibility of a mid-Key bridge in 1996. Even then, construction costs would have exceeded $100 million, and MPO officials said environmental permits would be almost impossible to obtain.

Adding lanes to Gulf of Mexico Drive: The idea made for a funny Longboat Observer April Fools’ story in 2007, but it’s highly unlikely GMD will ever get more lanes. “To solve all the traffic solutions, you would need to widen the roadway and add more lanes,” FDOT District 1 Traffic Operations Manager L.K. Nandam told the Longboat Key Town Commission at a December workshop.