Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/114013
Sarasota News Leader March 8, 2013 Page 36 "We try to limit closures as much as possible," up onto Clark Road," which the department he continued. found unacceptable, the March 5 memo noted. Although staff and consultants had reviewed alternatives, Harriott explained, the road closure seemed the best option. FDOT also had supported that alternative, he said. "[It] provides the best mix of traffic," he added, and it would not overburden the traffic signals. A second option was use of a jack and bore operation, the memo pointed out. That would entail a multi-stage process "consisting [of] a temporary horizontal jacking platform and a starting alignment track in an entrance pit at a desired elevation," the memo explained. A product would be "jacked by manual control If just one lane were shut down, he noted, the along the starting alignment track with simulresulting situation would necessitate traffic taneous excavation of the soil," with the soil moving "very close to a large hole." Only a transported back to the entrance pit, it added. 12-foot-wide travel path could be created to enable the project to proceed, he pointed out. While traffic lanes would remain open, the method "is not physically possible at this loThe primary concern was the safety of motorcation due to the area needed to set up the ists and the work crews, Harriott added. entrance pit and the area needed to reach the Additionally, the Florida Department of Trans- depth of the entrance pit considering OSHA portation agreed that keeping a single lane safety requirements [for] the construction open would result in "large queues backing workers," the memo pointed out. An illustration shows details of the work plans for the Honore Avenue/Clark Road intersection. Image courtesy Sarasota County