Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/88739
Sarasota News Leader October 19, 2012 "I am truly impressed with the group at FDOT," said Catherine Luckner, president of the Siesta Key Association. Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patter- son, who represents the island on the county board, said of the bridge work, "It was pret- ty painless and very well done on the part of the contractor" and his crew. "My hat's off to them." Months before the work began, Luckner said, "People were afraid," worried that even with just one lane closed on the bridge between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., problems would ensue. Those fears proved to be unfounded, she said. In fact, Luckner pointed out, few people showed up for a discussion the SKA hosted Page 43 with FDOT staff on July 7, 2011, so the project could be explained in detail. She had joked with FDOT officials afterward, she said: "No- body needed to come and ask anything else" because of the public outreach the depart- ment already had undertaken. Moreover, Luckner said, the entire time the project has been under way, FDOT staff and Stafford "were always available" to answer any questions. During the monthly SKVA meetings since the project began, Matthes routinely asked wheth- er members knew of issues that had arisen with the project, and no one brought up any. The fact that complaints were not aired during SKVA and SKA meetings "reinforces the com- mitment [FDOT] made early on" to make the Close to 17,000 cars travel daily across the north Siesta bridge, according to Florida Department of Transportation statistics. Photo by Norman Schimmel