The numbers are impressive — 304 rooms and 637 parking spaces, with a restaurant and other crowd-drawing facilities. When this project joins the already dense beach landscape, the slow trek from Longboat and Lido keys to downtown will inevitably worsen.
If we are not going to limit growth, our elected leaders and the developers who benefit from new condos and hotels must at least face the traffic issue. Failure to act will result in a five-mile-long parking lot every afternoon during "season." Congestion means wasted time and fuel, delayed emergency-vehicle response and increased air pollution.
All concerned residents and visitors must encourage our city commissioners to intelligently address the area's traffic problems. Circulator buses with reasonable fares would be a great start. While costly and not immediate, an automated people mover linking downtown with St. Armands, Lido and Longboat would eliminate thousands of painfully slow trips every week.
Transportation planners will have other solutions and should be part of the big picture. Please invest a few minutes to email the officials who can influence the outcome. The writing is on the wall, and one can easily see it from a stopped car.
Elliott Himelfarb, Lido Key
Thursday, March 16, 2017 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment