Ringling Trail
December 15, 2022, 10am, at Ringling Blvd & Legacy Trail (near Five-O Donuts!) Ribbon cutting ceremony for Ringling Trail Complete Streets project.
Work on the Ringling Trail (Ringling Blvd Complete Streets project) began week of May 16, 2022, expected to be completed in early 2023.
Complete Streets overview
From the City: "A complete street is an age-friendly design that promotes safe travel to and from a destination, whether you're walking, biking, riding transit or driving a vehicle. It's accessible to all who utilize it and provides a sense of place. Each complete street is unique to the community and can include different features like enhanced sidewalks, street lighting, benches, street trees and landscaping, public art and more.
The Ringling Trail Complete Street project includes Ringling Boulevard between Lime and Pineapple. Protected bicycle lanes are being added to enhance connectivity from the recently extended Legacy Trail to the downtown core. Not only will the road be made safer for recreational cyclists and commuters, but we also aim to create a more visitor-friendly experience that translates to economic growth for downtown businesses. We're adding landscaping and adjusting the signal timing to improve traffic management.
At least one lane of traffic on Ringling is expected to be maintained throughout the duration of construction."
From the City: "A complete street is an age-friendly design that promotes safe travel to and from a destination, whether you're walking, biking, riding transit or driving a vehicle. It's accessible to all who utilize it and provides a sense of place. Each complete street is unique to the community and can include different features like enhanced sidewalks, street lighting, benches, street trees and landscaping, public art and more.
The Ringling Trail Complete Street project includes Ringling Boulevard between Lime and Pineapple. Protected bicycle lanes are being added to enhance connectivity from the recently extended Legacy Trail to the downtown core. Not only will the road be made safer for recreational cyclists and commuters, but we also aim to create a more visitor-friendly experience that translates to economic growth for downtown businesses. We're adding landscaping and adjusting the signal timing to improve traffic management.
At least one lane of traffic on Ringling is expected to be maintained throughout the duration of construction."
Ringling Trail (Ringling Blvd Complete Streets project). At the Feb 1 2021 City Commission Meeting the commission voted unanimously in favor of this project (Agenda Item X.1 Discussion Re: Ringling Trail and Concept Plan Approval).
Click on link above to read 140pp backup document including detailed design report with various options, traffic studies, and public comments already submitted, and/or to watch video (or read closed caption unofficial transcript) of meeting.
Click on link above to read 140pp backup document including detailed design report with various options, traffic studies, and public comments already submitted, and/or to watch video (or read closed caption unofficial transcript) of meeting.
draft concept plan for portion of Ringling Boulevard, from 4 lanes to 2, adding protected bike path
The Observer reported:
"...the city will now develop more detailed design documents for the Ringling Trail. City staff indicated they intend to pursue the buildout of the project in two phases. First, a short-term project focused on restriping and plastic bollards to create the protected bike lanes. The city estimated phase one could be built by this fall at a projected cost of $900,000.
The second phase would involve more intensive construction to permanently redesign the road, adding the landscaping and physical barriers included in the concept plan. Assistant City Engineer Dan Ohrenstein said the full buildout could cost $10 million and take five to 10 years as the city seeks funding. When commissioners asked whether the city should hold off on any changes until phase two is ready, Ohrenstein said staff wanted to have improvements in place in time for the expected completion of the Legacy Trail extension in early 2022."
"...the city will now develop more detailed design documents for the Ringling Trail. City staff indicated they intend to pursue the buildout of the project in two phases. First, a short-term project focused on restriping and plastic bollards to create the protected bike lanes. The city estimated phase one could be built by this fall at a projected cost of $900,000.
The second phase would involve more intensive construction to permanently redesign the road, adding the landscaping and physical barriers included in the concept plan. Assistant City Engineer Dan Ohrenstein said the full buildout could cost $10 million and take five to 10 years as the city seeks funding. When commissioners asked whether the city should hold off on any changes until phase two is ready, Ohrenstein said staff wanted to have improvements in place in time for the expected completion of the Legacy Trail extension in early 2022."
Overview: City of Sarasota Transportation Planning Department is working on transportation connectivity upgrades throughout the City. For this specific site, they are looking at options to improve Ringling Boulevard from Lime to Pineapple.
From the City:
"We aim to enable biking from nearby neighborhoods into Downtown. Within the Gardens of Ringling Park neighborhood, Ringling Blvd from Tuttle Ave to Lime Ave already has bike lanes. We would continue the bike lanes already present on Ringling Blvd, making a smooth path from Tuttle Ave and from the neighborhood all the way to downtown.
We plan to build an entire bicycle network around Payne Park to best use the Legacy Trail Extension. The Legacy Trail Extension project, will run up to Fruitville Rd. In the medium-term future, the City is looking to continue this north along the railroad right-of-way. This corridor could continue all the way north to the airport, which would be its maximum extent.
The Ringling Trail will spoke off the Legacy Trail Extension to go right to the core of Downtown. As Ringling Blvd continues to Bayfront Park, which then leads to the barrier islands, it’s possible to continue this route all the way to St. Pete. This route is called the Gulf Coast Trail.
Since traffic on Ringling Boulevard is lower than it was in 2002* and has slightly decreased even over the past 5 years, we hope a full-length bike lane will help revitalize the street."
*[Ed: does this take into account all the new homes/apartments at LYRA and Payne Park Village?]
Project Documents, maps and brief Video: https://www.sarasotafl.gov/government/planning/transportation-planning
for questions, contact Dan at: 941-263-6520 l Fax: 941-263-6372: [email protected]
From the City:
"We aim to enable biking from nearby neighborhoods into Downtown. Within the Gardens of Ringling Park neighborhood, Ringling Blvd from Tuttle Ave to Lime Ave already has bike lanes. We would continue the bike lanes already present on Ringling Blvd, making a smooth path from Tuttle Ave and from the neighborhood all the way to downtown.
We plan to build an entire bicycle network around Payne Park to best use the Legacy Trail Extension. The Legacy Trail Extension project, will run up to Fruitville Rd. In the medium-term future, the City is looking to continue this north along the railroad right-of-way. This corridor could continue all the way north to the airport, which would be its maximum extent.
The Ringling Trail will spoke off the Legacy Trail Extension to go right to the core of Downtown. As Ringling Blvd continues to Bayfront Park, which then leads to the barrier islands, it’s possible to continue this route all the way to St. Pete. This route is called the Gulf Coast Trail.
Since traffic on Ringling Boulevard is lower than it was in 2002* and has slightly decreased even over the past 5 years, we hope a full-length bike lane will help revitalize the street."
*[Ed: does this take into account all the new homes/apartments at LYRA and Payne Park Village?]
Project Documents, maps and brief Video: https://www.sarasotafl.gov/government/planning/transportation-planning
for questions, contact Dan at: 941-263-6520 l Fax: 941-263-6372: [email protected]
