My View

Peak season is fast approaching, reminding us of the nightmarish traffic situation of the last peak season, it is high time for us to put our heads together to devise ways to alleviate the problem. Last season’s traffic was so bad that a New York couple who rented our bayfront condo decided not to return to Longboat Key. A Bay Isles couple moved to Bird Key to escape the traffic problem.

There are ways to alleviate the problem, but these are not easy to implement because they require close collaboration between public officials of Longboat Key and the city of Sarasota, and also because our gains could come only at certain expenses of others. But the alternative of not acting is not an option given the severity of the problem which, left untended, is expected to get only worse. Ways to alleviate comprise a number of elements, some more crucial than others. I will list steps that could be taken and how they would help.

By my assessment, the real bottleneck during the peak season is the intersection of S.R. 789 and U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). The cause of problem is twofold:

One is the relative shortness of the green light for drivers trying to turn left from S.R. 789 toward North Tamiami. The other is the stagnation at the intersection of North Tamiami and Fruitville Road, which has serious carryover effects on traffic at the intersection of S.R. 789 and U.S. 41, especially for those turning left from S.R. 789 onto North Tamiami.

For the former of these two problems at the intersection of S.R. 789 and U.S. 41, a solution is to lengthen the green light in favor of drivers trying to turn to the left from S.R. 789 toward North Tamiami. For the latter problem, a key would be to prohibit left turns at the Fruitville-North Tamiami intersection for cars traveling south on U.S. 41, at least during the rush hours of, say, 3 to 6:30 p.m. Those affected would have to take detours, such turning left at 10th Street.

The green light for those cars turning left from Fruitville onto U.S. 41 would be shortened while the green light for cars traveling on Tamiami would be lengthened. 

Troublemakers of lesser but still significant importance are the traffic lights at the intersection of S.R. 789 and Golden Gate Point and the traffic light at Bird Key. Those traffic lights sandwich the Ringling Bridge.
Given the small number of cars coming out of Golden Gate Point and the Ritz-Carleton and the pains of those of us who drive eastbound on S.R. 789 during bad times of the day in peak season, I suggest shortening the green light for cars exiting Golden Gate Point and the Ritz-Carlton onto S.R. 789, while lengthening the green light in favor of cars traveling on S.R. 789.

This means drivers trying to exit Golden Gate or the Ritz-Carlton onto S.R. 789 have a longer wait for a green light in addition to a shorter green light, but this could be justified as a way to reduce the existing huge imbalances between the pains suffered by these drivers relative to the pains endured by those driving eastbound on S.R. 789. Similar measures should be taken for the Bird Key traffic light. 

The final major issue is the New Pass Bridge at the southern end of Longboat Key. Given the absurdity of drivers having to wait in a nonmoving traffic for additional multiple 10-minute periods every time the drawbridge opens and closes for a few sailboats, I suggest the drawbridge be made dormant and left closed during February and March. Those boaters who have used that drawbridge as a passage to and from the Gulf would be diverted to the Ringling Bridge. 

Some might consider these suggestions as expressing little concern for those who would be adversely affected. That would be a wrong impression. I, of course, have concerns about the reduced well-being of these individuals.

The pains we Key residents currently endure while driving to Sarasota in the peak season are so out of proportion that even after the adoption of suggestions, our pains would remain disproportionately large. 

As a token of our concern for the sacrifice of those who would feel worse off as a result of these suggestions, residents and visitors to Longboat and adjacent areas should pay financial compensation to the rest of the Sarasota County population.

How to raise funds for such compensation? These illustrative suggestions should be acceptable to residents and visitors to Longboat Key and adjacent areas:

• A $100 annual property tax surcharge for residents of Longboat, St. Armands and Lido keys;

• A 50-cent per person, per night hotel surcharge during February and March for Longboat and Lido key hotels;

• A 10-cent per person restaurant meal surcharge during the same period for Longboat, Lido and St. Armands key restaurants;

• A 1% surcharge at the Bay Isles Publix during February and March.

These suggestions are illustrative because a definitive numerical plan cannot be set up in the absence of real data. 

This letter was written to start a serious debate about how to alleviate our peak season traffic nightmare, a debate that should lead to Longboat Key officials’ dialogue with those of neighboring jurisdictions and meaningful action in time for peak season.

Many of us residents of Longboat Key love dearly this island. However, if nothing is done on the peak season traffic problem, the love affair would in time come to an end, at least for some of us — not simply because of the expected intensification of an already severe problem, but also because inaction would be a predictor of what kind of future this island would likely have. 

Yusuke Horiguchi is a Marina Bay resident.