Any driver who has sat through rush hour traffic on one of Sarasota County’s major thoroughfares has experienced the problem firsthand.
As new real estate development has boomed in recent years, improvements to county roads have not kept up with all of those extra drivers. On roads like Fruitville, Tamiami Trail and Honore Avenue, an influx of added traffic has become a major headache for longtime residents, with no clear fix in sight.
During a special county commission workshop, staff planners on Wednesday outlined nearly $2.3 billion in transportation infrastructure needs over the next 13 years. But with only $573 million in projected revenue to pay for it, Sarasota County now faces a $1.7 billion shortfall to address the ongoing traffic and road safety woes.
County staff presented a combination of funding options, including an additional sales tax for residents or increased mobility taxes on new housing developments.
Although increased fees for developers may be much more palatable for the average taxpayer, that option would bring in about one-seventh of the revenue, according to county staff.
“That’s one of the things we maybe could have done better in the past is building the network before it was necessary,” County Transportation Director Spencer Anderson told the commission. “And this is what we’re trying to do now.”
About $2 billion of the money is needed to boost motorist capacity on high-priority roads, repair bridges and improve safety.
Katie Habgood, a consultant from Patel, Greene & Associates, told the commission it isn’t uncommon for needs to outweigh revenue for any government, but there were ways to make up the gap. The board was non-committal on making any immediate decision.
Much of the presentation was dedicated to county road projects to alleviate the congestion all too familiar to residents, such as the River Road Regional Interstate Connector, the widening of Laurel Road and the Manasota Beach Road extension.
But even if the county spends hundreds of millions of dollars to build new roads and widen existing ones, there is no guarantee that traffic congestion will lessen.
Mike Duncan, who chairs Florida State University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, said there is little data to suggest a growing area like Sarasota County can do much at this point.
“I don’t know that it’s realistic to expect that in a growing community you can really reduce traffic,” Duncan said. “You can manage it, you can try to put better alternatives out there for people and try and prevent it from getting worse.”
He points to a phenomenon called “induced demand,” which could even worsen traffic as more lanes and roads are built.
“In the short term, you might see a reduction in congestion,” Duncan said. “But over the long term, people change their behaviors as a result of that new open capacity.”
The additional corridors also create more opportunities for new development, which leads to more people, and in turn, leads to more bumper-to-bumper build ups.
Duncan said his first priority would be to improve existing road infrastructure, like installing ramp meters and reversible lanes. Overall, he said, those kinds of improvements are cheaper and more efficient.
“It’s easier for a city council person or a mayor to have a ribbon cutting for building new infrastructure than for doing something like improving the efficiency of your traffic lights stabilization process,” Duncan said.
How can Sarasota County make up the funding gap?
Average annual daily traffic along Tamiami Trail through Osprey has shot up 51% since 2021.
Down South River Road, traffic loads have gone up about 25% during that same time.
On the meatiest stretch of Fruitville Road between Tuttle Avenue and Beneva Road, daily traffic counts have seen a 21% increase, according to data from the Florida Department of Transportation.
Finding the money to address the problem could mean higher taxes for residents.
Of all the funding options, the most money would come in through an additional half-cent sales tax that would collect a projected $840 million over 13 years by adding the levy to basic consumer purchases like groceries and new furniture.
Commission Chairman Ron Cutsinger noted that about one-third of that revenue would come from tourists. But the majority would still come from those already living here.
Commissioner Mark Smith acknowledged the public outcry for better roads but also hedged on whether there was enough support for a new tax to fund a fix.
“I don’t know if we would do a polling or survey or something before we go for a referendum, but to me, I would be surprised if it got approved by our citizens,” Smith said.
A potential referendum would almost certainly not come in 2026.
Other proposals, such as a new tolling authority, were met with a tepid response from the board. Commissioner Joe Neunder said outright he didn’t want any tolling authority in Sarasota County.
The shortfall also comes amid mounting budget concerns. As property values begin to cool down from peak levels during COVID-19, local governments must cope with less revenue to balance their bottom line. Efforts from Tallahassee to curb property taxes may only exacerbate that problem.
Duncan said local governments may be more constrained than their constituents might like to hear.
“Congestion is kind of a symptom of a thriving, growing economy,” Duncan said. “You can try and manage it to the best you can, but any promises that politicians are making about reducing congestion, I think are false promises.”
This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
