Sheriff's offices: 'business as usual' on Black Friday

UNIVERSITY PARK -- As shoppers from all across the region flock to The Mall at University Town Center and other retail along University Parkway to get their hands on Black Friday deals, it will be "business as usual" for Manatee and Sarasota counties' sheriff offices.

"We will have patrol deputies working their zones in and around that area," Manatee County Sheriff's Office spokesman Randy Warren said. "Nothing has been requested by the mall or the other merchants in the area for additional assistance. We will be out and about and see what happens."

Since University Parkway is the county line, businesses on the north side are in Manatee County while the businesses on the south side, including the Mall at UTC, are in Sarasota County.

While the traffic plan may not be as "robust" as the mall's opening weekend, Octavio "Tav" Ortiz said they are planning to do something similar this weekend. They have some signs up already and plan to put more signs about traffic before the weekend.

"Nothing that we haven't seen in the past," Ortiz said. "We don't know what to expect since this is our first Black Friday weekend."

The mall's employees will continue to park in the overflow lot at the mall to allow more shoppers to park at the mall, Ortiz said. Ortiz also encourages motorists to use

alternate routes to reach the mall, such as Fruitville Road to Cattlemen Road from the south and Honore Avenue to Desoto Road from the west.

"Surely that's going to be critical and a key to our success in accessing the mall," he said.

Kaitlyn Johnston, spokeswoman for Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, said deputies will be in the area "with full enforcement as always."

"Be patient," she said. "Understand that there will be a lot of people on the road. Of course, it is going to be congested on University Parkway."

For people traveling along Interstate 75 to University Parkway on Friday, Florida Department of Transportation also plans to mirror the mall's grand opening weekend in October, said FDOT spokesman Robin Stublen. There will be large signs on the highway alerting motorists of any congestion.

"Everything will be exactly the same as it was during opening," Stublen said. "I think everything was fairly successful (during the mall's opening). The traffic congestion was kept down. I'm sure everything will work out just fine."

As shoppers hurry to stores to buy the doorbuster deals on Friday, Warren said people must be patient as there will be a "mad rush at times."

"People have to be patient and just exercise good courtesy and understand people are going to be in a hurry," Warren said. "If you are at an intersection, just be respectful and don't get aggressive. There are plenty of traffic signals and other things people need to abide by. Just take your time and everybody be safe."

Claire Aronson, University Parkway/Sarasota reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024 or at caronson@bradenton.com. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sheriff's offices: 'business as usual' on Black Friday ."