'Complete street' concepts for key Sarasota corridors to be unveiled next week

After a monthlong survey of residents and two-plus months of crunching the data, next week the public will get its first look at concepts for the construction of “complete streets”  at 10th Street and Boulevard of the Arts.

The city of Sarasota will present the concepts for the two parallel streets during back-to-back open houses Monday, May 23, at the SRQ Media Studio in the City Hall Annex at 1565 First St.

From 3-4:30 p.m., residents can view concepts of Boulevard of the Arts west of U.S. 41. That will be followed by a presentation of Boulevard of the Arts and 10th Street east of U.S. 41 beginning at 5:30 p.m. The 10th Street project extends from U.S. 41 to Orange Avenue. The scope of work on Boulevard of the Arts extends from Sarasota Bay to just east of Orange Avenue.

A complete street is an age-friendly design that promotes safe, multimodal travel whether walking, biking, riding transit or driving a vehicle. It is also intended to provide a sense of place. Each complete street is unique to its community and could include such features as enhanced sidewalks, street lighting, benches, street trees and landscaping, public art and more. 

A public survey period held by the city Feb. 1-28 garnered the engagement of 1,084 residents, offering input on the complete street projects.

Among the proposals is a raised intersection at U.S. 41 and Boulevard of the Arts. A raised intersection is a flat, elevated area covering an entire intersection with ramps on all approaches. A raised intersection design provides a slightly elevated crosswalk for greater visibility, reduces speed on the corridor from 40 to 30 mph, and includes technology that would allow for bike detection and signal modification during events.

A draft report of the compete streets project is due to be presented to city commission in summer 2022.