Longboat Key finds potential new funding for Broadway Roundabout

After learning the Broadway Roundabout project would be about $3.2 million more than originally expected, town leaders pressed pause on the design. But a recent update in a funding source came as a welcome surprise for Director of Public Works Isaac Brownman. 

“Basically, it was like money falling out of the sky,” Brownman told commissioners at the Sept. 23 workshop. 

The Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) previously set aside $4.8 million for the town’s roundabout project in its “Transform 2045” Long Range Cost Feasible Plan. These funds were identified for 2030, and the town previously wouldn’t have access to those dollars until then. 

But representatives from the MPO recently reached out to Brownman and town staff to say it might have funding sooner. 

Due to other projects that will be deferred in fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2027, the MPO said it would be willing to give the town the necessary funds in either of those fiscal years ahead of the previous 2030 designation. 

For the town to receive funding in the MPO’s FY25 budget, though, the town would need to be under contract for the project by June 30, 2025, before the fiscal year starts on July 1. 

To add to the complexity, the project would need to be directed through an agency with the Florida Department of Transportation’s Local Agency Project (LAP) certification. Manatee County has the required LAP certification, and Brownman said preliminary conversations with the county suggested they are willing to help. 

Though this is a short timeline to complete design and permitting, Brownman said it’s worth the attempt. 

“This is a very good opportunity to pursue,” Brownman assured the commissioners. 

Brownman also said his staff have re-engaged with the project engineers to get the design phase back on track. 

In June, Brownman updated commissioners about the new and higher estimated project cost, which was born from the required redesign. A year earlier, when the town was nearing 90% completion of the original design, the FDOT told town staff that it would not approve of the plans due to issues with the roadway banking, or curved slope. 

This required the town to engage in a redesign which required one side of Gulf of Mexico Drive to be lowered while simultaneously raising the other. The changes also require changes to the existing drainage system, all of which led to the increased costs. 

The town previously budgeted $600,000 for the project, FDOT committed to $1.685 million and Manatee County said it would contribute up to $500,000. When new project cost estimates came in between $5.4 million and $6 million, this left the shortfall of about $3.2 million. 

Brownman said he met with FDOT on Aug. 23, and in that meeting, the department said it would not be able to provide any more funding for the project citing other priorities and inflationary pressures. 

The FDOT also turned down the town’s suggestions to look into potential alternatives, such as a traffic signal or interim pedestrian hybrid beacon. The roundabout was already the approved method, according to the department. 

The right direction

Paul Hylbert, co-chair of Longboat Key North coalition of homeowners and condo associations, has been a part of the group for about five years. Ever since he joined, the Broadway Roundabout topic has been relevant, he said. 

He said he was happy to hear about the potential new funding, and others would be too.

“I think there will be a lot of people extremely pleased that the roundabout could come about in the next year or two,” Hylbert said.

Photo by Carter Weinhofer

At the Sept. 23 workshop, Hylbert shared with commissioners the consensus among north-end homeowners seems to be in favor of the roundabout. 

“I think the consensus of the residents that we kind of represent as LBK North is that we want to have a safer intersection, and the roundabout is a great way to do this,” Hylbert said. “But what I do want to emphasize is that we really must do this right.” 

Hylbert also said there are homeowners closer to the project site that raised concerns about the changes to drainage and landscape of the intersection. The new designs for the project require a redesign of the site's drainage, including removal of vegetation on one side of GMD. 

Brownman has previously said town staff are working with those property owners to address some of the issues. 

At the end of the discussion during the Sept. 23 workshop, Mayor Ken Schneier asked commissioners for a consensus to direct Brownman to move forward and try to obtain the MPO’s funds for FY25 given the short timeline.