What is proposed by the County?

At the Oct. 4, 2007 public hearing, the Planning Commission voted 8 to 0 to deny Special Exception 1655. A Sarasota County Commission meeting to discuss the Special Exception will be held Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. at the Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomis Ave., Venice. Please show up and voice your opinion.

Sarasota County wants to make an access road from the Knights Trail Landfill to Clark Road. This road would enter Clark Road near the entrance to Saddle Creek (see map below). Sixteen years ago the county reached an agreement with Saddle Creek stating that the access road to Knights Trail Landfill would only be used for emergency purposes. The County has also indicated they want the proposed road to become a North-South main connector open to all types of traffic. This road would connect from Venice to Lakewood Ranch and Manatee County.

Sarasota County's three reasons for the proposed road:
Reasons why this is a bad idea...
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Reason #1: The County said it will Save Money Spending $19 million to save $285,000 is a bad idea.

Sarasota County mentioned that this proposed road would possibly save around $285,000 a year and the road could possibly be used to negotiate a better contract with Waste Management. Sarasota County proposed the Knights Trail extension so that garbage trucks can save 4 to 5 miles on their commute to the County Landfill. Even if Sarasota County did get a slightly better contract with Waste Management, should we really spend $19 million to save $285,000 per year. Less than a 1.5% ROI.

Clark Road will become more dangerous.

Clark Road from I-75 to Proctor Road moved up to 14th on the list of most dangerous road segments in all of Sarasota County. This is up on the list from being in the 200th or 300th range just three years ago. The worst thing about this proposal is that it would increase traffic and fatalities along Clark Road and add traffic to Laurel Road. Sarasota County mentioned there would be no improvements made to the existing roadways connecting to Clark Road or Clark Road itself. Without any road improvements made to Clark Road or existing connecting roads (such as Proctor Road and Clark Road, Proctor Road and Bee Ridge Extension; Proctor Road and Ibis), how can the County even think of adding a new road with additional traffic. 370+ garbage trucks weighing in excess of 50,000 pounds (some possibly weighing in at 80,000 pounds) would be traveling on this precarious two lane road which will certainly result in increased accidents and fatalities.

What's missing?

There is no plan for a traffic light where this proposed road intersects with Clark Road.
There is no plan for widening the Cowpen Slough bridge.
There is no plan for a traffic light at Bee Ridge Extension and Clark Road.
There is no plan for a traffic light at Proctor Road and Clark Road.
There is no safety study for the proposed road or for the proposed intersection.
There is no plan for making changes to the existing roadways before the addition of this newly proposed road.

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Reason #2: The County said they want Emergency Access The County already has permission to use the road in case of an emergency. Many people agree that the County is trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Sixteen years ago the County reached an agreement with Saddle Creek stating that the access road to Knights Trail Landfill would only be used for emergency purposes. Part of Saddle Creek's stipulations with the County was that the road could only be used if the south entrance to the landfill on Knights Trail was blocked for more than 30 minutes. Over the last sixteen years, the County has never used the gravel road that is currently running between Kights Trail and Clark Road. When asked, how often could it have been used, the County said possibly eight or nine times.

Bad for the surrounding environment.

These garbage trucks and other additional traffic will be traveling through land that the County has described as environmentally sensitive. "Proposed roadway through environmentally sensitive land/revisions to the map by Renaissance Planning Group following Staff review and input." --as stated in the Minutes from Board of County Commissioners on October 11, 2005 / Book 73 / Page 521-- This road will cut through land that is home to a wide variety of plants and animals.

More development east of I-75 for both Clark Road and Laurel Road.

Sarasota County already has permission to use the road for emergency purposes. The proposed road, if approved would open the door for more developments. Bad for Clark Road and Laurel Road neighborhoods and wildlife, good for South County Land Developer's. "South County development hopes a north-south connector to Venice and the politics of traffic will soon propel county officials to consider removing the prohibition against garbage trucks taking a northern route to the county dump." --as stated in the Sarasota Herald Tribune - February 4, 2006 edition--

Opening this proposed road to regular traffic would certainly be of benefit to land developers in South Sarasota County. "County commisioners also feared building a road would spur development in the area east of I-75. Commissioners didn't want that, so they made Laurel Road the access point to the landfill." --as stated in the Sarasota Herald Tribune - February 4, 2006 edition--

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Reason #3: The County said they want to use the road as a thoroughfare The County has indicated that they want the proposed road to become a North-South main connector open to all types of traffic. This road would connect from Venice to Lakewood Ranch and Manatee County. The County wants this road to be the first in a series of roads connecting to Clark Road from the south. These roads would eventually connect with Bee Ridge Extension. The proposed road is not necessary and improvements should be made to the existing roadways before adding additional stress to the roads that are already in place. Someone at the meeting also mentioned the addition of a Veterans Cemetary located off of Clark Road.

Additional traffic for both Clark Road and Laurel Road residents.

This proposed road, if approved, would increase traffic on Clark Road and Laurel Road because this road would be open to public traffic. This change would affect all communities in the Clark Road Corridor between I-75 and Myakka State Park, but it would also affect communities in the Laurel Road Corridor east of I-75. "More important than garbage truck routes, though, is the road that could come out of a change in the policy, Venice City Manager Marty Black said." --as stated in the Sarasota Herald Tribune - February 4, 2006 edition--

Decreased property values.

Traffic jams and hundreds of garbage trucks will certainly decrease the desirability and property value of all neighborhoods along Clark Road, Bee Ridge Extension and Proctor Road. Increased traffic on Laurel Road will certainly decrease property values in the southern part of the county as well.

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How many garbage trucks would be traveling down Clark Road?

370+ Garbage Trucks weighing between 50,000 and 80,000 pounds would travel down Clark Road each day. "In documents, the county estimates 300 of the 400 garbage trucks that head to the landfill each day come from the northern half of the county and could take a shorter route if there's access from Clark Road." --as stated in the Sarasota Herald Tribune - February 4, 2006 edition--

These trucks would make a total of 1,000+ trips in total per week as calculated by the County. This doesn't include the 124 private haulers or public access to the landfill.

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday Thursday / Friday Saturday
Waste Garbage Trucks (3 Trips and 27 routes) 81 0 5
Yard Waste Trucks (3 Trips and 19 routes) 57 0 3
City of Sarasota 24 24 0
Commercial Waste Trucks (3 Trips and 5 routes) 15 15 15
Construction Debris 70 70 70
TOTAL 247 109 93
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Monday 247
Tuesday 221
Wednesday 247
Thursday 109
Friday 109
Saturday 93
Subtotal for Waste Management Trucks 1026
+Private Haulers 124
TOTAL ADDITIONAL TRUCKS ON CLARK PER WEEK 1150


County's Proposed Road Map