MPO approves island traffic study

The Longboat Key Town Commission got one of its Christmas wishes this month.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is made up of elected officials in Manatee and Sarasota counties, approved a comprehensive barrier island traffic study in both counties that the town has advocated for more than eight months.

The Florida Department of Transportation will perform the study, which is expected to take 1,500 hours and cost approximately $675,000. But it’s unclear where funds will come from to pay for it or when the study will be performed and completed.

Commissioner Jack Daly, who sits on the MPO board as the town’s representative, urged FDOT to pay for the project because he believes the barrier island traffic issue is a statewide problem.

“We see not only the benefits with respect to the region here, but we see applicability of a study like this certainly on both coasts,” Daly said.

FDOT District One Secretary Billy Hattaway said his department began funding discussions for the study during an FDOT district meeting in Tallahassee last week.

Town Manager Dave Bullock and Mayor Jack Duncan urged the MPO and FDOT to take ownership of the traffic problem and perform a study in April.

The town is working on several fronts to alleviate seasonal traffic, especially because four hotel projects will be underway in 2016 in downtown Sarasota that will add to beach traffic upon completion.

Earlier this year, Commissioner Phill Younger created his own traffic plan to ease congestion through St. Armands Circle for Longboaters that he hopes Sarasota officials will consider.

And Longboat Key resident and retired Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steve Branham used his connections to persuade the Coast Guard to reduce New Pass Bridge openings during peak traffic times during the upcoming season.

Bullock says if the Sarasota-Manatee area can’t manage traffic more efficiently in season, it’s in danger of losing both tourists and residents to areas that can.

“Beaches are the state’s No. 1 economic engine, and when people start reconsidering using them because of traffic, an analysis to find some measurable congestion relief must be done,” Bullock said.