Bus capacity doubles for Crystal Classic

The good news keeps rolling in for stakeholders planning the Siesta Key Crystal Classic Master SandSculpting competition. Siesta Key Village Association members, during a Sept. 4 meeting, learned 10 buses would be trucking people to the island from the mainland. Traffic is still a concern, but a new route allows an additional stop in the Village and streamlines vehicle activity.

Maria Bankemper, co-chairwoman of the Crystal Classic Steering Committee, presented the revised transportation plan, which received mostly positive feedback.

In 2011, buses picked up people at Phillippi Estate Park and took the Siesta Key south bridge to the main entrance of the public beach, where they had to use the beach parking lot to turn around and follow the same route in the opposite direction. Traffic would get tied up, and buses were delayed when they turned around in the beach parking lot.

To stay within the allotted budget, buses will be used on the weekends from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Last year, there were approximately 800 vehicles using the Phillippi parking option on the weekends, but much less activity on Friday. The new route will be circular, starting at Phillippi and then taking the Siesta Key north bridge onto the Key and making a stop at the south end of the Village before continuing to the public beach.
“This is going to be awesome,” said SKVA President Russell Matthes, “because we’re going to have people at our front doors for lunch and dinner.”

The event is driven by sponsorships, and Matthes said having the stop in the Village should be enough to motivate any Village business to sponsor the Crystal Classic.

Bankemper said the 10 buses will range in size from 55 seats to smaller “feeder vehicles” that will speed up the turnaround rate for transportation to the event.

But, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chris McGregor said he has concerns the plan to drop off attendees next to the roadway would cause more traffic problems.

“My concern is if we start dropping off on the street in front of the public beach, it’s going to be a huge traffic nightmare,” McGregor explained during the meeting.

But, Bankemper countered that the loading and unloading times won’t be significant enough to have a major affect on traffic flow.

“They don’t have coolers and things with them,” she said of the expected users. “They’re not bringing a lot of stuff.”

Contact Alex Mahadevan at [email protected].