- June 19, 2025
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Construction for Longboat Key’s Country Club Shores turn lane project has made significant progress since beginning in February, and contractors are tracking ahead of schedule.
Jennifer Fehrs, the town’s full-time engineer, updated Longboat Key town commissioners at the commission's June 9 meeting.
The update came weeks after residents of Country Club Shores raised concerns with the town over the length of five landscaped medians throughout the project. After reviewing the concerns, the town and its contractors proposed a change to the Florida Department of Transportation.
The change shortened the longest median by 75 feet, and the four others will reduce by 50 feet. The FDOT approved the change verbally in May and Fehrs said written approval came at the beginning of June.
The town’s main contractor for the project, Superior Asphalt, Inc., spent late April to early June on excavation and base stabilization. As of May 30, the project was 40% complete, according to Fehrs.
“By the end of June, it’s anticipated that we’ll be 60% complete,” Fehrs said. “Just looking at the contract time that doesn’t end until Dec. 30, we’re pretty much ahead of schedule … it’s tracking well.”
According to the town’s contract, the contractor has until Oct. 31 to reach substantial completion and until Dec. 30 to finalize the project. But, Fehrs said in the meeting, though she didn’t want to jinx anything, the project could be complete sooner.
“The contractor is saying right now it’s the end of August,” Fehrs said.
Construction began in February amid peak season for the island when snowbirds are present, and tourists are abundant. Commissioner-At-Large BJ Bishop said the construction didn’t seem to interfere with the heavier traffic.
“I am amazed that traffic has flown this smoothly,” Bishop said.
As the rainy season approaches with hurricane season, Fehrs said the project team hopes there won’t be too many delays moving forward.
If there aren’t delays, the contractors will continue to do embankment and swale work in mid-June, including the removal of two Banyan trees and installing drainage structures.
Around the end of June, contractors will install the structural asphalt in the widened part of the road, and the concrete barriers surrounding the project will reposition.
Crews will install concrete medians in July; by the end of July, they will install irrigation and landscape the medians before construction shuts down for the week of July 4th, according to Fehrs’ project schedule.
This project provides a center turn lane with five landscaped medians from Channel Lane to Longboat Club Road on Longboat Key’s south end. The full project length spans about 0.84 miles.
Contractors will widen the existing pavement by 12 feet to make room for the center turn lane to make a 44-foot-wide section.
The changes will create a roadway section with two 11-foot travel lanes, one 10-foot turn lane, two 6-foot wide paved shoulders with widened bike lanes and five landscaped medians.
The scaling back of the medians is based on feedback from residents in Country Club Shores. Initially presented as a benefit to the community, the project provides safer turns into the neighborhoods of Country Club Shores. But, when community members saw plans that included long, higher medians, some raised concerns about not being able to turn safely out of the neighborhoods.
Overall, the project will cost around $2.65 million, for which the town has a joint-project agreement with the FDOT. This means the FDOT will reimburse the town for the project. The original estimated cost was around $1.44 million, but the amending of the joint-project agreement November 2024 accounts for the higher price.
Originally, the project did not include the medians. The town’s original idea in 2017 was to create a lengthened center turn lane without any medians to allow cars to queue in and wait for an opportunity to turn into the communities. Cost estimates at the time were around $200,000.
The FDOT rejected the idea because of operational and safety concerns.
