Residents offer insight on Ringling roundabout

The city of Sarasota is waiting for the state to weigh in on a potential roundabout at Ringling Boulevard and U.S. 41. In the meantime, staff seeks feedback on a local level.

A potential roundabout at Ringling is the latest in a series of proposed roundabouts along U.S. 41 that the city has submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation for consideration. Roundabouts at 10th Street, 14th Street, Fruitville Road and Gulfstream Avenue are all in development as part of the city’s Bayfront Connectivity Plan.

The plan seeks to reduce the design speed of the road to 30 mph while creating more space for other modes of transportation, such as public transit, bicycles and pedestrians. The life cycle of many of the city’s traffic signals are coming to an end — a replacement expense of about $150,000, according to City Engineer Alex DavisShaw — so staff is reaching out to FDOT to see where roundabouts might be an appropriate alternative.

They’re reaching out to city residents, too. On Feb. 17, DavisShaw and roundabout engineer Michael Wallwork hosted a public meeting regarding the proposed Ringling roundabout. Roundabouts were once a controversial proposal in the city, but those in attendance were largely comfortable with the concept — though some concerns remained.

Wallwork said one of the key advantages of roundabouts was increased safety, particularly for pedestrians. At U.S. intersections where roundabouts were installed, there was an average 39% decrease in crashes, a 76% decrease in injury-producing crashes and 90% fewer fatal or incapacitating crashes. At Ringling and U.S. 41, there have been 15 crashes in the past five years, and just one pedestrian crash.

Some residents were upset with the roundabouts already installed along Ringling Boulevard and at Five Points because they felt pedestrians were crossing through the center of the roundabout instead of using the crosswalks. DavisShaw said the issue has subsided, to a degree, as people have become more familiar with roundabouts, but Wallwork said that problem would always persist.

A significant message that the attendees had for the engineers was that they wanted the roundabouts to be clearly demarcated for drivers and pedestrians. DavisShaw said the current proposal for the roundabouts would include pedestrian-activated signals at the crosswalk that would alert drivers when someone was about to walk across the street.

Wallwork said that, with the Bayfront Connectivity Plan already in motion, it made sense to build more roundabouts along U.S. 41 because they work best in a series of multiple intersections.

“Ultimately, what you don't do is build roundabouts and signals,” Wallwork said. “The character of the two of them is different.”

Contact David Conway at [email protected]