The Florida Department of Transportation barrier island traffic study began without ceremony in late May.
It got underway with a steering committee meeting May 23 at Longboat Key Town Hall.
The steering committee includes mayors and public works employees, engineering and planning departments from Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, Longboat Key, Bradenton and Sarasota and Manatee counties.
The committee reviewed some of the preliminary data already collected on traffic flow to and within Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key.
Leigh Holt, a planning manager for the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, said presenters put forward their proposals for future traffic solutions.
Project manager Frank Domingo discussed how technological solutions could be implemented, including proposals for variable message boards that could tell drivers how many parking spaces are available in beach parking lots, or show motorists which bridge, on Cortez Road or Manatee Avenue, has a shorter commute.
“They had observed that sometimes traffic would be backed up for miles on Manatee, but going smoothly on Cortez,” Holt said.
Technology would also be key to collecting data. Domingo said the DOT would use Bluetooth-enabled devices to collect “origin-destination data” about people’s travel.
The study will be conducted in three phases with Phase I a review of available studies and proposals for island transportation in order to compile an accurate picture of island traffic.
The second phase will involve collecting the Bluetooth data and compiling an accurate image of the island-key traffic flow.
The final phase will involve completing a transportation management plan and developing improvement recommendations.
Two public workshops will be held at the end of each phase, on the north and south ends of AMI-LBK, with times and locations to be determined.
The study is estimated at $675,000 but final cost is to be determined. MPO will pay 20 percent, approximately $135,000, while the DOT will cover the remainder. Information on the study can be found at www.swflroads.com/sarasotamanateebarrierislands.
Planned public workshops:
- Phase I Public Workshop (south), July 18.
- Phase I Public Workshop (north), July 20.
- Phase II Public Workshop (south), Nov. 14.
- Phase II Public Workshop (north), Nov. 16.
- Phase III Public Workshop (south), Aug. 21, 2018.
- Phase III Public Workshop (north), Aug. 23, 2018.