Sarasota Livin'

I attended the special city commission meeting to discuss the 17th Street Extension. I was very impressed by the turnout. First I have never seen such a diverse group at a Sarasota City Commission meeting.

It was very heartening to see that the large majority of those that spoke supported the Central Coconut Neighborhood in their opposition to four-laning this road.

I spoke on behalf of the the Coalition of City Neighborhoods in support of the North Sarasota Neighborhoods that seemed united in their opposition to widening 17th St. Click here for a map of the area

I would like to repeat my comment that I think the City of Sarasota should pursue purchasing the railroad right-of-way in that area. The cost for several options of widening 17th St were in excess of $20,000,000. That would seem like a lot of money for railroad right-of-way.

I am sure that allowing a few more streets to extend across the railroad would do much more to increase the capacity and improve the circulation of the local road system than four-laning 17th St.