Ringling Bridge shared bus-bike lanes activate Tuesday

When FDOT activates the temporary shared bus-bike shoulders on Tuesday, the Bay Runner trolley can enter the lanes under certain conditions. Any passing, even by bikes, will be prohibited.

By Andrew Warfield
| 3:16 p.m. October 31, 2022

The Bay Runner trolley will have access to the temporary shared bus-bike shoulders across the Ringling Bridge starting Tuesday. (Courtesy photo)

Sarasota
News

The Florida Department of Transportation Southwest Florida division has announced it will open the temporary shared bus bike shoulders across the John Ringling Bridge on Tuesday. The shoulder will be open to the Bay Runner trolley when traffic in the general travel lanes is slower than 15 miles per hour.

At the same time, the shoulder will remain open to bicyclists and scooter riders.

Buses and trolleys can travel up to 10 mph faster than the flow of traffic in the general purpose lanes, or up to 25 mph, while using the shoulder.

The use of the shoulder is up to the transit driver’s discretion. They are required to use emergency flashers when in the lane. Bike and scooter riders must travel in the direction of traffic. Passing of vehicles or bikes by any users of the shoulder is prohibited.

Operating hours of the Bay Runner are 8 a.m to midnight, seven days a week.

The temporary shoulder will be in use until the completion of the Ringling Bridge repair and renovation project, scheduled for 2023. Afterward, the bridge will have two general travel lanes, a transit lane and a bike lane in each direction.

The Sarasota Police Department will enforce traffic regulations.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.