Venice holds community workshop after council pauses proposed Bayshore Drive sidewalk

Acting City Engineer John Kramer said the City of Venice is gathering input after the City Council directed staff to pause a planned sidewalk and study alternatives for the Bayshore Drive–Laguna Drive corridor between Tarpon Street and Bayshore Circle.

The meeting on the city’s Bayshore-Laguna safety alternative study drew residents from both sides of the street and a range of suggestions, including building a sidewalk on the east side, adding paved shoulders, installing speed humps or electronic speed displays, or creating a boulevard-style center walkway. Jeff Rakos, design engineer with DMK Associates, took notes for a follow-up engineering analysis and a resident survey that the city said it expects to distribute this fall.

The discussion matters because Bayshore and Laguna are heavily traveled pedestrian routes to the beach and jetties, residents said, and the roadway has little pedestrian infrastructure. Kramer said the council had originally directed staff to…