US 41 Roundabout Design, 10th Street to 14th Street

US 41 in Sarasota is a designated Florida Scenic Highway that also serves as a major thoroughfare along the shoreline of Sarasota Bay. Additionally, the corridor runs adjacent to several parks—Centennial Park, Pioneer Park, and Whitaker Gateway Park—and the historic Sarasota Lawn Bowling Club. In its existing configuration, US 41 acted as a barrier for pedestrians and bicyclists, separating residences and businesses on the roadway’s east side from the parks and public facilities on the west side. To provide more connectivity across US 41 for bicyclists and pedestrians, traffic calming measures as well as safer pedestrian and bicycle facilities were needed. District 1 of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), in cooperation with the City of Sarasota, initiated a project to replace the existing US 41 signalized intersections at 10th Street and 14th Street with roundabouts as well as install safer pedestrian crossings, wider sidewalks, and dedicated bicycle lanes. The project was the district’s first roundabout initiative and served as a demonstration project for future roundabout development within the city. Lochner was hired to lead design efforts.

Lochner coordinated extensively with project stakeholders to understand the needs of the local community, which helped inform final design. These stakeholders included several large retirement communities, local business associations, the local boating community, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center staff, and the general public. As a result, Lochner focused heavily on providing better connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists. Lochner’s design for the roundabouts at each intersection included two-lane facilities with landscaped centers and high-visibility pedestrian crosswalks with pedestrian hybrid beacons. Because the location of the 10th Street roundabout is adjacent to a large boat-launching facility, wide-turn radius design was used to accommodate the turning movements of vehicles towing boats. The design also included narrower travel lanes, improved bus bays, a mid-block pedestrian crossing, wide ADA compliant sidewalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, and decorative street lighting.

As a busy urban location, maintenance of traffic was a prime concern for FDOT. Lochner prepared a detailed traffic control and staged construction plan to keep the road open, maintain access to adjacent cultural centers throughout construction, and accommodate the community’s pedestrians and bicyclists.

Prior to design, Lochner was responsible for performing the project development and environment (PD&E) study, which included Section 106 evaluations of several historic resources, an extensive review using Complete Streets guidelines, and public involvement facilitation.