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Multimodal master plan near final: city staff, consultant outline pedestrian, bicycle and intersection priorities
Summary
Consultant Kimley‑Horn and city engineers presented the draft multimodal transportation master plan, highlighting safety hot spots, prioritized corridors, and a toolkit of pedestrian, bicycle, roadway and transit improvements that will feed into the city’s CIP and regional planning processes.
Assistant City Engineer John Kramer and consultant Jared Schneider (Kimley‑Horn) presented a near‑final multimodal transportation master plan update to Venice City Council on March 11, 2025. The plan frames long‑term and prioritized short‑term projects for all transport modes—vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, freight and transit—and identifies safety hot spots and programmatic funding options.
Schneider summarized public engagement: nearly 200 survey responses, two in‑person pop‑ups (Legacy Trail and venue event), an in‑person community workshop and an interactive online mapping tool that allowed residents to pin safety concerns and project ideas. The plan highlights recurring themes—Venice Avenue/US‑41 corridor safety, island connectivity, Legacy Trail/Mertz Trail connections, and intersection improvements in the expanding Northeast growth area.
Recommendations include targeted intersection improvements where crash data concentrates, pedestrian crossing upgrades and lighting, expanded trail and crosswalk connections to the Legacy Trail, separated bicycle facilities where feasible, and multimodal considerations in the proposed Seaboard redevelopment and airport approach. Funding and implementation emphasis focuses on federal and state grant opportunities, partnerships with Sarasota County and the MPO, and lining the plan’s prioritized projects with the city’s Capital Improvement Schedule (CIS).
Council members and speakers discussed golf‑cart parking demands on the island, future trail connectivity to the Florida Gulf Coast Trail corridor, and the plan’s role in informing the county’s long‑range transportation plan and development review. The plan is positioned to guide future CIP projects and grant applications; no formal council action was required at this meeting.
