Longboat Key Letters to the Editor

Anytime 80% of Longboat Key voters — from both ends of the Key — jump on an issue, as they did on the proposed north Longboat hotel this past summer, the Town Commission should make it a top priority to resolve the issue. 

And that issue is traffic. Fix the traffic.

I feel sorry for the hotel guys. They did not cause the issue that defeated their request. But that’s the law, and the people spoke.

But here we are, almost four months later, and our commissioners and county officials are still kicking the can to the state, as if there is not a single thing that can be done. 

And in your Dec. 1 edition, we read that neither the city of Sarasota nor the city of Bradenton Beach has plans to do anything differently than was done last season.

Certainly, there are some actions that fairly promptly could be done that do not require kicking the can to the Florida Department of Transportation. Try this: Quit allowing SCAT and MCAT buses to stop smack in the middle of the north- and southbound single lanes to load and unload a few passengers. They should be required to pull off the road.

The Town Commission could press Manatee either to get those buses off the highway or cease scheduling them during peak traffic (late afternoons). 

Another is the timing of stoplights, especially east of the Cortez Bridge. 

While a comprehensive traffic study may be a good idea for longer term actions, by the time it’s completed, Longboat residents again will have been saddled with another season of traffic horror.

The Town Commission and the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce also should be pressing developers who hope to be lucky in future referenda to pitch in now and assist our commission today with workable traffic solutions. They have smart engineers with powerful contacts who can help make a difference. 

If they help solve the traffic issue, starting now, then voters in future referenda will be kinder to their requests.

Michael Hodges

Longboat Key