A shopping center on SR 70 has had a traffic issue for years. Will a roundabout solve it?
It can be challenging leaving Creekwood Crossing Shopping Center.
Try to make a right turn onto State Road 70, and there is the onrushing traffic coming from Interstate 75 and Lakewood Ranch.
Try to leave via 52nd Place East at Creekwood Boulevard, and the challenge is finding a gap in traffic.
There is no lighted traffic signal at either exit. The S.R. 70 exit is too close to I-75, and a traffic signal on Creekwood Boulevard might back traffic up to S.R. 70.
It’s been a problem for more than 20 years, ever since the busy shopping center anchored by Lowes Home Improvement Center and Bealls opened. Creekwood residents complained about it then, and they are complaining now.
Manatee County Government has plans to address the problem by constructing a roundabout on Creekwood Boulevard and 52nd Place. With a roundabout, drivers would not risk having to find a gap in traffic to make the left-hand turn to reach S.R. 70.
“The conflicts create operational and safety concerns at and in the vicinity of this intersection,” the county’s capital improvement plan says.
A roundabout would resolve the traffic conflicts and allow drivers to safely enter the traffic pattern, the plan said.
Construction could start this year with a proposed total cost of $1.75 million.
‘A major project’
Not so fast, say Tom and Diane Carter who are among the Creekwood residents who live closest to the planned roundabout.
“When a roundabout is designed, you go to the middle and draw a circle around to see what land is needed. In this case, land on the east side was unusable because of the lake,” the Carters said in a presentation to the county commission.
“What happened is they moved the center of the road and it went to the land that has two ponds to reconfigure, two HOA (home owner association) monuments to destroy, private land to destroy, 50 plus tree to cut down, one fence to destroy, countless bushes and wildlife habitat to destroy just to install the roundabout,” the Carters said in a presentation to the county commission.
They asked, rather than constructing a roundabout, why not make the exit from 52nd Place East a right-turn only?
Drivers could take Creekwood Boulevard to Caruso Road and thence to S.R. 70 or seek a turnaround in a less congested area, they say.
“If this project is a go, the storm drains will have to be moved down both sides of the street. That is a major project! We will have car traffic 20 feet from our living room window! For the amount of money, the lack of traffic does not support this roundabout,” they said.
The Creekwood roundabout is one of more than 20 planned for Manatee County, some by Manatee County Government and others by the Florida Department of Transportation.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 5:50 AM.
