Residents and transportation safety professionals have growing concerns regarding speeding on neighborhood streets. The City of Sarasota is committed to providing safe streets for all. In order to do so, the City follows the Safe Systems Approach and works closely with the Sarasota Police Department to provide a traffic calming program, educational programs as well as traffic enforcement to encourage safe driving behaviors. Neighborhoods with concerns about speeding can contact Corinne Arriaga, corinne.arriaga@sarasotafl.gov, to initiate a traffic calming request.

Traffic Calming Process

1. Meet with Neighborhood: The City will meet onsite with the neighborhood to discuss their concerns and explain the process.
2. Conduct Speed Study: The City will retain a contractor or partner with SPD to conduct traffic counts on the street(s). This is done by placing pneumatic tubes on the street which count the volume and speed of vehicles over a three day period. The counts should include weekends.
3. Evaluate Data: Upon receiving traffic count data from the contractor, staff will review each street to determine if traffic calming measures are warranted. Staff will also collect historical crash data.
4. Propose Solutions: The Engineering Division will provide possible solutions, and will meet with the neighborhood to discuss the various traffic calming measures available for a particular street and seek input.
5. Collect Petition Signatures: After treatment is selected, a petition is provided with a required amount of signatures in an area surrounding the project site. Petitions must receive signatures from at least 60% of property owners in the area. This number may vary depending on project. The petition must be returned with the proper amount of signatures within 90 days.
6. Project Delivery: If petition is returned with the required amount of signatures by the deadline, the project will be prioritized based on available funding. If petition is not returned by the deadline, or an insufficient amount of signatures are collected, the process may begin again after three years.

If the neighborhood does not meet traffic calming warrants, they have the option to request speed feedback signs at their expense with majority neighborhood support on the location. The City will install and maintain the signage. The neighborhood must provide insurance which would be documented in a Minor Encroachment Agreement.

For more information on the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Process, download The Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program brochure.

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