An island traffic study is imminent.
As it grows nearer, it’s prompting Anna Maria Island’s elected officials to question exactly what will be studied.
The barrier island traffic study is expected to take place during the 2017-18 winter tourist season at a maximum cost of $800,000, with the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Florida Department of Transportation paying the bill.
During the Oct. 19 meeting of the Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials, gathered officials from the four barrier island cities in Manatee County discussed the scope of work for the study.
Longboat Key Commissioner Terry Gans said he hopes the study will include the impacts of mainland traffic on the barrier islands.
“We don’t generate most of the traffic that backs us up,” Gans said. “It’s coming from somewhere.”
County Commissioner Betsy Benac, a member of the MPO, said the scope of work includes the mainland and the proposed Lake Flores development south of Cortez Road off 75th Street in Bradenton, and Peninsula Bay, closer to the village of Cortez.
Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson said he’s pleased with the process thus far. “I think it will progress well,” he said. However, one of the concerns the BIEO has about the study is that it has no “scope.”
According to Johnson, part of the bidding process is for contractors to suggest how the study should be conducted and recommend the scope of work.
David Hutchinson of the MPO said a committee would be formed to select the contractor and the final scope will be decided by the committee, the DOT and MPO.
Gans said Dave Bullock, town manager of Longboat Key, was chosen as a representative on the committee.
The members of the BIEO just hope their suggestions will be taken into account.
Suggestions from the committee include some already adopted into the broad scope set by the MPO and DOT, including studying traffic to and from the mainland, the impact of mainland traffic on the islands and the timing of drawbridge openings. Other suggestions being considered for the scope are conducting the study during winter season, when traffic is typically at its worst, and including traffic signal timing both on the island and on the mainland.
“We have to hope this study is done intelligently,” Gans said.
The BIEO will next meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Longboat Key Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.