A bridge to somewhere
AL GREEN
Contributing Columnist
green@lbknews.com
The city of Sarasota is still trying to find a solution to a problem that has faced almost every city in America with a lakefront or riverfront on its perimeter — how to correct the bad planning that cut it off from the downtown in the first place.
For those of us who remember our Charles Dickens, we know that living near the river was not the chic place to be. When we used our waterways as a sewer, it was smart to not be close to the odor and filth. But now when a view is more important than a big kitchen, planners everywhere are trying to find a way to integrate this natural asset with previous development.
The idea that was presented by the consultant Andre Duany, hired at great expense by the city of Sarasota, was to make Mound Street into a slow moving two-lane street where pedestrians could wander across at little or no peril. He felt this would encourage strollers to walk down to Lakefront Park. Unfortunately for this plan, it had a fault. Mound Street was also the main artery north and south if you didn’t want to drive miles east to the interstate, and it was important not to inhibit the free flow of this traffic.
For those who lived, worked or shopped on the keys, it also was the only way to get on or off the island. If you live on Longboat Key, you do your dining, your shopping and attend to your medical needs in Sarasota and in most cases south of the Ringling Causeway turnoff. Only those of us who had to drive the Long Island Expressway to the Hamptons every Friday afternoon could possibly imagine what would happen if Mr. Duany’s plan were to be implemented.
There is no argument that the parkland next to the bay is a beautiful place to stroll, sit and have a coffee, but you can still sit, stroll and have a coffee in a sidewalk café downtown, and it would be the height of foolishness to try to improve on what is currently working to offer this alternative with its almost certain consequences.
Everyone on Longboat travels by car, and traffic patterns determine your destination. Jill and I gave up ever trying to go to the movies in Bradenton even though we lived on the north end of the island, because the traffic through Coquina Beach was almost impassable. Can you imagine the effect on the restaurants in Sarasota if Longboat Key patrons knew they had to face that type of situation just to get to their favorite dining place?
There is one way it could work. Replicate the Ponte Vecchio. Everyone who has been to Florence, Italy, has strolled across and shopped on this walking bridge. It is really nothing more than a continuation of the street. Walking bridges are very effective in Europe. In Prague and Budapest they are the major links in bringing two parts of the cities together.
Sarasota could rent space on the bridge to vendors, bring the annual art shows to start on the bridge and then utilize the park front for most of the exhibitors. This would free up downtown and help those merchants and restaurants that find themselves cut off from their regular clientele during the shows. It could become a tourist attraction in its own right and help downtown business overall.
If the city of Sarasota ever comes close to considering the slowing down of traffic on Mound Street, I would suggest to the commissioners on Longboat that they try to duplicate what an Army general did in a southern town — he paid his soldiers in silver dollars to demonstrate how important his troops were to the economy of the town. Longboat Key residents spend a lot of money in Sarasota; it would not be good planning to try to discourage them from coming.
One additional thought. It should not pass notice that the P&Z is meeting to discuss the additional “tourism” units. Please show me where the referendum used the term “tourism.” We know the P&Z is a handmaiden of the Chamber of Commerce, but this is really too much. Eventually the residents of the key are going to have to wake up and pay attention, or they will find themselves living the nightmare we call Siesta Key. Betty Blair, where are you when we need you?
