MPO seeks input on regional transportation plan for Sarasota and Manatee counties

Leigh Holt, strategic planning manager for the Sarasota Metropolitan Planning Organization, admits it’s hard to imagine what the area will be like 50 years from now — or even 25.

However, she and other transportation officials are focusing on Interstate 75 as a regional employment corridor and on giving Sarasota and Manatee residents options for travel, whether that means riding in autonomous vehicles or using a transit service. The concepts have been developed after a yearlong study of transportation needs on input from Sarasota and Manatee County residents.

Holt said the vision is for employment hubs to be located at I-75’s intersection with major roadways, such as state roads 70 and 64 and University Parkway. One day, those roadways could have travel lanes designated for buses, carpooling or autonomous vehicles.

“There’s going to be this transition over the next 25 years from the way we know things today to this autonomous world,” Holt said. “There’s going to be many years where those two have to co-exist. There will be a transition not only of our whole infrastructure but of individual lanes as we move from one to the other.”

As the MPO finalizes its 2045 Long Range Plan, plans are being discussed about Interstate 75 eventually having toll lanes, lanes designated for carpooling or lanes designated for automated vehicles.

The vision, unveiled Feb. 24 at State College of Florida’s Bradenton campus, was shaped by input from the community through surveys, meetings, events and workshops over the past year. 

Holt said the MPO’s long-range plan must consider all aspects related to transportation, including roads, bicycles, pedestrians, trails, public transit, parking, railroads and airports. This update is the first time the MPO has addressed automated vehicles, sea level rise and storm events into its planning efforts.

Holt said the vision is not finished. Manatee and Sarasota county residents can still make recommendations via an online survey through March 20.

The vision is meant to guide transportation policies as the area grows and develops.

For example, Fruitville Road in Sarasota County is six lanes in each direction west of I-75. In a decade from now, a lane in each direction could be designated. Holt said buses can be equipped with technology to change the traffic signal in their respective lane, so they bypass snags in traffic experienced by other motorists. To encourage people to ride buses, however, there must be good pedestrian and bicycle access to bus stops.