Planned bike trail would connect Legacy Trail to Nathan Benderson Park, Lakewood Ranch (Sarasota: landscaping)

[wondermint2]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...50beed1f&ei=37

The board of the Sarasota-Manatee area’s transportation planning agency has approved a future bike trail that will connect Bobby Jones Golf Club to Nathan Benderson Park and link the park to the southern part of Lakewood Ranch.

The board also approved the alignment of a bike trail in Bradenton that will run from 75th Street West to downtown.

The two trails will be 12 feet wide and will allow for bicycle and pedestrian travel. The Sarasota County one will connect to the Legacy Trail, meaning people will be able to take a multi-modal trail from downtown Sarasota to Lakewood Ranch, once construction is completed.

The board of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization unanimously approved the alignments of the two trails at its Monday meeting. The approval means that local governments can now apply for funding for the projects through the state’s SUN Trail program. (The SUN Trail network is a statewide network of bike/pedestrian trails.) They can also now apply for federal funding.

Construction of these trails is still a long way down the road. Venter said local governments will first have to conduct a Project Development and Environment Study, which is an analysis of the social, cultural, and environmental impacts of the project, and design the trails.

To view the alignments of the two trails on Google My Maps, visit:

https://www.publicinput.com/SUNTrailStudies

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A Sarasota Trail proposal connects with a bigger mobility picture

For full article:

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/transp...bility-picture

The city envisions linking Legacy Trail to neighborhoods west of U.S. 301 via a pathway across the southern edge of Payne Park.

When the pavement is laid, the landscaping finished and the ceremonial ribbons cut, the city of Sarasota will be the proud owner of about a quarter-mile of new multi-use trail, connecting a spur of the Legacy Trail from School Avenue to the southwest corner of Payne Park.

But the project, financed with a mix of federal and local dollars, figures to represent more to the city in the long run than a typical medium-sized, public-works project.

When finished in late 2024, the 14-foot-wide Legacy Trail Payne Park MURT (that’s city speak for multi-use recreational trail) will be another component of a larger vision to provide mobility options that don’t necessarily involve a drivers’ license.

And those ideas don’t necessarily end at the city limits, either, said Corrine Arriaga, a transportation planner with the city and the trail’s project manager, acknowledging there are proposals to link city points to county projects north and east.

Sarasota in Motion, a transportation overview approved in 2020, helps guide city leaders on a broad range of transit solutions for pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, and riders.

The $775,000 trail through Payne Park is such an opportunity.

“How do we accommodate vehicles, but while also accommodating people walking and biking as well, and maybe taking transit and using scooters,” Arriaga said. “And, you know, whatever else the future holds, maybe some autonomous shuttles in the future. Things are rapidly progressing in the technology field as well.’’

The proposed trail is drawn across the southern fringes of Payne Park to connect School Avenue to East Avenue and South Payne Parkway. A triangular junction at the three-point connection could be adorned with decorative landscaping or even public art while connecting to a neighborhood access point to the south, Arriaga said.

[wondermint2]

Sarasota County looks ahead to a widened Legacy Trail

For full article:

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/transp...d-legacy-trail

A grant and private donations have paved the way for the first stretch of a divided path, one side for cyclists, the other for those running or walking.

No, roundabouts aren’t proposed for one of Sarasota County’s most popular cycling and jogging routes, but a commonly used highway expansion plan is on the drawing board for the Legacy Trail at the next meeting of the county commission.

Commissioners on Sept. 12 are scheduled to consider signing off on the pl;an to widen a two-mile stretch, courtesy of a state grant, private donations and some public funding, to allow separate lanes for cyclists and those on foot.

Phase 1 of the Legacy Trail Extension Bifurcated Trail Project would be paid for through $400,000 in state grants and the remainder in local matching funds from private donors and county impact fees, according to county documents.

“With trail use growing exponentially in the past few years, setting up the trail now for future improvements would be a vital next step to The Legacy Trail,’’ wrote Nicole Rissler, the county’s director of parks, recreation and natural resources in a memo to the County Commissioners.

The project is designed to add the extra lane from Beneva Road to South Shade Avenue with a four-foot grass median between cycling lanes and pedestrian/runner lanes. Maps, directional signs and educational signs are also part of the funding proposal, documents prepared in advance of the commission meeting show.

According to Friends of the Legacy Trail, 649,512 cyclists, joggers or walkers used a portion of the trail in 2022, up from 479,043 in 2021. Through July of 2023, 455,611 cyclists, walkers or joggers have been tallied.