Laurel Park Neighborhood Association | Sarasota FL
News

Legacy Trail Comes to Payne Park

LPNA Admin
Sarasota County - Legacy Trail
As you’ve probably heard the Legacy Trail is coming to Payne Park. When completed you’ll have a continuous recreational trail all the way down to Venice. With over 350,000 people using the Legacy Trail, the City of Sarasota is making preparations to accommodate the anticipated influx of bikers. One of the key proposed changes involves alternations to Ringling Blvd.

The City reached out to the LPNA, since Laurel Park is the neighborhood adjacent to both Payne Park and Ringling Blvd as well as being one of the City’s leading neighborhoods, to present their plans to increase bike lanes on Ringling Blvd. Both Dan Ohrenstein (Assistant City Engineer) and Nancy Kelly (Neighborhood Planner) gave a presentation to the LPNA board regarding the proposed changes. They wanted to inform the neighborhood of upcoming changes, as well as to elicit our opinion of the design.

The proposal includes the following:
  • Create bike lanes on each side of Ringling. This will leave a lane in each direction for cars and maintain most of existing turn lanes. Some of the existing parking spaces on Ringling will also be repurposed for the bike lanes.
  • The changes will be done in two phases. The 1st phase will be predominantly striping. The expected completion is the Fall/Winter 2021 with a cost of approximately $900,000 (which has already been budgeted for). The 2nd phase, which is a long-term project, will include planting island separation as well as utilities improvements. That phase has not been scheduled and its cost is still to be determined. The City will be seeking additional grants for phase 2.
After listening to the presentation, the board was keen on the plan for a number of reasons:
  1. It is the City’s expectation that bikers on the trail will continue from Payne Park into downtown. Ringling Blvd is the least traveled direct route between Payne Park and the waterfront, and thus the safest for bike lanes.
  2. Ringling Blvd’s current configuration is a mixture of 4 lanes narrowing to two lanes. The proposal will make the road more consistent.
  3. The proposal will not direct people into Laurel Park, which will help maintain the neighborhood feel and cohesion that we all desire.
As an aside, this outreach is another example of the important role that the LPNA plays within the city. We provide both a strong voice for the neighborhood within the City government as well as a conduit for the City to inform the residents.

For more information: