Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/268408
Siesta Seen early to say whether the department will take down the signage or implement "something totally different" at the intersection. "We don't want pedestrians feeling like they're in danger," she pointed out; nor does FDOT want drivers to feel they cannot move at the red light if no pedestrians are in sight. Like FDOT, Harriott told me, the county received a number of emails about the situa- tion as soon as people noticed it. One of those notes went from SKA Director Joe Volpe on Feb. 19 to Paula Wiggins, the county's transportation planning manager. Volpe wrote, "I have received several com- plaints that a change in the traffic signal at Stickney Point and Midnight Pass Road has created a mess. … These people say that traf- fic is now backed up all the way to [U.S.] 41 and again on the turn lane on 41 to try to get on the island. It apparently has become a night- mare and the police are sitting there writing tickets to people who continue to make the turn on red." Volpe added, "I have no idea why this change was made but it certainly seems to be a back- ward move in traffic flow." MORE FEATURES AT THE BEACH During the County Commission's Aug. 28, 2013 meeting, it voted on the ranking of sev- eral additions to the Siesta Public Beach improvements project if it appeared work was coming in under the $16.7 million maxi- mum construction budget. When Brad W. Gaubatz, the project manager, and Carolyn Brown, director of parks and rec- reation, presented an update on the work to members of the SKA on Feb. 6, Gaubatz said he could not make it public at that point, but at least two more items on that "extras" list were going to become a reality. This week, Gaubatz was kind enough to give me details. Through "value engineering," he pointed out in an email, the top two alternates were added back to the project when the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract was approved. Those were the replacement of the existing portion of the dune walkovers, at an estimated cost of $214,500; and a new west pavilion, at a projected cost of $241,697.50. The next two alternatives have been added back as well, he continued: Jim Harriott is the county's chief engineer. File photo Sarasota News Leader February 28, 2014 Page 106