U.S. 41 Beautification Initiative in Drive
By Lisa Neff
Manatee County government is asking the public to tell what they want for the Trail.
Several years ago, the county and partner organizations and businesses began working on an initiative — Vision 41 — to address visual and functional challenges on the high-speed, auto-centric Tamiami Trail/U.S. 41.
The next phase involves public workshops and information sessions.
“U.S. 41 is the gateway of Manatee County,” said Commissioner Mike Rahn, District 4.
And the gateway needs work, beginning with a stretch from the southern county line at University Parkway north to Bowlees Creek.
Vision 41, Rahn said, offers a “great opportunity for us to collaborate in a public-private partnership to make U.S. 41 a better place to have business, for families to be in the area, for college students and for the airport.”
The county is working on Vision 41 concepts with Fawley Bryant Architecture and Green Street Associates. Stakeholders or partners include the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Power & Light, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, New College of Florida, University of South Florida-Sarasota/Manatee, developers and businesses in the corridor.
County commissioners on March 4 got a look at the Vision 41 status before public workshops and stakeholder discussions on how to address dry landscaping, underutilized sidewalks, vacant lots and the high cost and lengthy process to redevelop property.
Amending county land development regulations is part of the effort, likely the more complicated element of the initiative. There also are streetscape components, including possibly:
• Concealing utility boxes, planting lush landscapes, clearly marking crosswalks, installing corner pavers, enhancing bus shelters at intersections.
A goal with “simple upgrades,” said senior project designer Santiago Bello of Fawley Bryant, would be to make U.S. 41 more inviting and comfortable for pedestrians and motorists.
• Reducing the number of lanes to create space for landscaped medians, enhance visual appeal, improve stormwater management, increase pedestrian use and calm vehicular traffic.
• Supporting investments to improve commercial frontage, including maintained landscaping, eye-catching signage, consistent architectural details and design.
Bello said the plan could “establish the rules of the game.”
• Addressing vacant lots near the airport by encouraging temporary or pop-up retail areas, food plazas and art exhibitions.
Temporary uses have successfully revitalized other areas, Santiago said, including in Wesley Chapel and Sarasota.
• Promoting the arts with public installations, including wind and light sculptures, murals and more.
“You can live your life on U.S. 41,” John Osborne, CEO of Green Street and an urban planner, told commissioners March 4. So why, he asked, do challenges continue in the corridor? What changes might spur mixed-use development? “What could we do to loosen the handcuffs?”
The public can help with answers, he said.
So, Vision 41 next will be addressed in workshops and information sessions, including an info session 11 a.m.-7 p.m. March 26 at the South County Library, 6081 26th St. W., and another 11 a.m.-7 p.m. April 2 at the Powel Crosley Mansion, 8374 N. Tamiami Trail.
“We need to do a deeper dive … for this project,” Osborne said. “We can listen. We can hear.”
About the trail
The U.S. 41/Tamiami Trail corridor connecting Tampa to Miami across the Everglades was groundbreaking engineering feat. Completed in 1928, the Trail opened new possibilities for travel and commerce in the state. And the Trail continues to serve as a major thoroughfare for long- and short-distance travel.
For more about Vision 41, go to mymanatee.org/vision41.
Source: Manatee County Route 41 Beautification Concept