The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

A detailed update on the Bee Ridge Rd. project came from the Bee Ridge Neighborhoods Committee, a volunteer group representing some 14 communities impacted by the Bee Ridge Rd. improvements. The information was shared at the Dec. 10th Lake Sarasota Community Group meeting , and is in addition to the latest official report  from Sarasota County: The new completion date for the project as a whole is now June 2016 (original date was April), mainly because of unusual amounts of rain. The traffic signals at Mauna Loa are currently under control of the contractor, and they are being monitored to cope with changes in traffic levels due to returning snowbirds and seasonal fluctuation. The Mauna Loa intersection is considered "very difficult" and will require ramping. The south lanes need to be resurfaced and elevated to match the northern lanes of Bee Ridge. Asphalt plants go offline this time of year, however, so the timing of the southern lane elevation has been moved to b...

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), District One, is holding a public information meeting regarding  design improvements to Interstate 75 (I-75) from north of Fruitville Road to north of University Parkway in Sarasota and Manatee counties.  The  public meeting is being held from  4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 26, 2014  at the Holiday Inn Lakewood Ranch Osprey Room, 6231 Lake Osprey Drive, Sarasota, Florida 34240.  FDOT will hold this meeting to give interested persons the opportunity to view the proposed design, review displays, talk one-on-one with staff, and make comments about the project. The 3.5 mile design project includes reconstructing the I-75/University Parkway interchange from the existing diamond design to a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) design , the first DDI in Florida to advance to the final design phase. The project also widens I-75, from north of Fruitville Road to north of University Parkway, to an eight-l...