Newsletter 64

SIGNALS UPGRADED : Sarasota County will expand and upgrade the region’s advanced traffic management system to almost a dozen new areas throughout the greater Sarasota area this year. The $2.8 million project in partnership with – and paid for by – the Florida Department of Transportation will add three miles of fibre optic network to plug 34 area intersections into the system run from the Sarasota-Manatee Regional Traffic Center in Manatee County. The center is the brain for the traffic signals and cameras at hundreds of intersections across both counties and in the cities of Sarasota and Bradenton. There, officials can time signals, monitor traffic patterns and manage communication across the entire system. Please click here for more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Traffic signal expansion

LBK TRAFFIC PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS : Several weeks ago, a group of Longboat Key residents started circulating a petition to convince local and state transportation officials to take several steps they think will improve traffic flow between the mainland and islands during the tourist season. The Herald-Tribune also asked their readers to share their opinions of what the group calling itself the LBK Task Force recommends – and contribute their own ideas for reducing traffic congestion. Please click here to read the suggestions: Traffic suggestions

FLORIDA TOURISM STRONG : It hasn’t been an easy eight months for Florida. Shootings, Zika and hurricanes all contributed to Florida’s turbulent 2016. At least so far, however, any damage to Florida’s travel market because of the events seems to be minimal, and several indicators show that tourism to the state is thriving. Florida generated $85.3 billion in spending by tourists in 2014, which made it second only to California in tourism revenue, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group. “Florida is appealing to every kind of traveler, so the prospects are strong. You have the beach, gaming, Disney World and a wide range of budget and luxury accommodation options, and while any calamity in a destination tends to have an immediate decline in visitation, the decline is usually temporary.” Follow the jump for more on this: Florida tourism

BIG PASS PROJECT IS GIVEN APPROVAL : The Florida Department of Environmental Protection posted its “notice of intent to pursue” the joint coastal permit necessary to pursue the controversial dredging of Big Pass to nourish Lido Key beaches. The notice marks a turning point at which the decade-long bitter public argument between Lido and Siesta keys over the science behind the project turns into a formal legal battle for Siesta groups trying to stop it in its tracks. The proposed project, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City of Sarasota, plans to to dredge up to 1.2 million cubic yards of sand from the pass to rebuild more than 1.5 miles of Lido Key beaches. It also includes the installation of two perpendicular beach groins to slow sand movement. Please click here for more information: Big Pass project approval

BILLION DOLLAR BOOM : Construction is completed, underway or planned on projects that will bring more than 4,200 new apartments, condominiums and hotel rooms in and around downtown Sarasota. Developers and their lenders are betting heavily that Sarasota is ready to handle such an eruption of growth, which also includes new office and retail spaces. The city has issued building permits valued at more than $1 billion in the past three years. While that total includes all types of construction, such as repairs and renovations, the new projects are the top-dollar draws. There’s more here: Sarasota downtown development