- April 26, 2025
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Two leaders of regional transportation brought this message to members of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce last week: Road projects are very expensive, and they take a really long time.
While not exactly breaking news, Florida Department of Transportation Southwest Area Office Director Wayne Gaither and Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director David Hutchinson laid out the arduous and costly process of road projects — from repaving to highway interchange reconstruction — to chamber members at its April 15 State of the Community luncheon.
In addition to describing functions of their respective organizations, Gaither and Hutchinson described how they interact to bring transportation projects to life. The MPO, one of a nationwide network of federally established planning organizations, sets project priorities by continually updating 25-year transportation plans. From there, the FDOT plans and constructs roadway and multimodal projects based on the MPO priority list.
From conception to completion, depending on the complexity of the project, it can take one to two decades to bring it to fruition. In addition to regulatory and environmental rigors, it’s also all about the money — or the lack thereof.
“Unfortunately, there is a lot more need than there is money available to meet those needs,” Gaither said. “That's a part of working closely with our MPOs and your local elected officials to try and come up with the priorities, the best way to spend the funds to meet the needs.”
The FDOT has committed some $1.5 billon to address those needs in Sarasota and Manatee counties, needs fueled not only by population growth but also by non-local traffic passing through, mostly along the I-75 corridor. And although traffic is a local problem for residents, it’s a regional puzzle for the FDOT.
in 2023 the population of the 12-county District 1 area was 3.1 million people. Since 2013 roughly 500,000 half new residents were added, Gaither said, with similar growth anticipated over the next decade. Those counties are Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Okeechobee, Polk and Sarasota.
“Our population growth is going to increase by nearly 400,000 people by 2050. That is a lot of growth,” Hutchinson said of the two-county area. “We're not a small town anymore. We can take advantage of our great small-town feel, but expect (growth) to continue.”
The focal point of regional transportation projects is I-75, the program dubbed “Connect I-75,” with nine projects in Sarasota County alone. The two largest are widening, bridge replacements and other improvements between Bee Ridge and Fruitville roads, and the conversion of the Fruitville Road interchange to a diverging diamond with related improvements on both Fruitville road and the interstate.
| 2023 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sarasota | 55,107 | 58,100 | 61,388 | 63,612 |
| City of North Port | 85,020 | 108,080 | 142,689 | 174,330 |
| City of Venice | 25,653 | 29,061 | 31,295 | 32,652 |
| Town of Longboat Key* | 4,193 | 4,246 | 4,291 | 4,314 |
| Unincorporated Sarasota County | 286,305 | 311,576 | 338,055 | 368,191 |
| Total | 456,278 | 511,063 | 577,718 | 643,099 |
| Total population growth from 2023 to 2025: 186,821 *Sarasota County portion | ||||
Work on the Bee Ridge to Fruitville project won’t begin until 2033. Early site work is underway on the Fruitville interchange with scheduled completion in 2029.
If that seems like a long time, that’s because it is.
“it just takes more money,” Gaither said of the time frames. “A lot of the reason that the projects take as long as they do is we have regulatory stipulations we have to meet. These are things that are not negotiable.”
