FDOT opens new operations center

The Florida Department of Transportation celebrated the opening of its new operations center for Manatee and Sarasota counties with a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 15.

The complex is located on 42 acres at 14,000 State Road 64 E. It includes a main office building, an auto/truck shop, a warehouse, storage areas and a field crew operations building.

Operations Engineer Albert Rosenstein said state-of-the-art video conferencing technology will be available to allow FDOT to operate more efficiently.

FDOT District 1 Secretary Billy Hattaway said FDOT has been requesting funds for a new operations center from the state Legislature for the last 25 years. That request was approved in 2014. The original building at University Parkway and U.S. 301 was built in the 1950s and FDOT has since added trailers and other structures — 34 buildings in total — to accommodate growth over the years.

Building a new, up-to-date facility was inevitable.

“It stood in the way of good communication and getting the job done day to day,” Hattaway said of working out of an antiquated facility. “We’ve been plugging holes and doing repairs for a long time.”

FDOT selected the location off State Road 64 largely because it already owned the property.

Having the operations center in East County will not change the schedule of East County projects, such as the roundabout at Rye Road and State Road 64.

“If the project moves into the construction phase, having the new facility close by will certainly help,” Hattaway said.