The community is invited to celebrate enhanced bicycle safety and expanded multimodal opportunities when the Ringling Trail “complete street” opens with a special ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The event will take place on the north side of the Ringling Boulevard - Legacy Trail intersection, just east of School Avenue. The Ringling Trail complete street features protected bicycle lanes for one mile between Lime and Pineapple avenues in downtown Sarasota creating a safer road experience for recreational cyclists and commuters. The lanes also provide connectivity between The Legacy Trail at Payne Park and the downtown core. The protected lanes are painted bright green to alert bicyclists and e-scooter riders they are approaching an intersection or potential conflict point. The bright color also serves as a reminder to drivers to remain in their travel lane. The bike lanes are physically protected with 6-foot long bright green concrete wheel stops and 4-foot tall flexible delineators placed between the bike and travel lanes. The Friends of the Legacy Trail and the Sarasota/Manatee Bicycle Club will be among the guests at the grand opening celebration. Immediately following a ribbon cutting ceremony, bicyclists will experience the new protected lanes with a fun, organized ride along the Ringling Trail. Historically, traffic volumes along the Ringling corridor have been declining. After a 2020 traffic study showed vehicles will continue to flow at an acceptable level during the next 20 years, one travel lane was repurposed as a bicycle lane in the complete street design. A complete street is unique to a community and promotes age-friendly safe travel whether biking, driving a vehicle, walking or riding a bus. The Ringling Trail construction schedule was accelerated to coincide as closely as possible with the opening of The Legacy Trail extension. Funding sources for the $2.7 million Ringling Trail include the Sarasota County Penny Sales Tax, Economic Development Funds, multimodal impact fees and federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Other improvements include the addition of landscaping and the adjustment of signal timing to improve traffic management.

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