Traffic Calming - What is Being Done
“Slow Down” signs have been placed around our neighborhood. These signs were provided by the generosity of the Sarasota Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations (CCNA), an invaluable organization that strives to "connect" local neighborhoods to their City and County governments.
An Educational Event was held March 18, 2026 with a City speaker addressing city-wide efforts to manage speeds on local streets. The purpose of the event was to explain the proposed changes to the current warrant system and to gather input from neighborhood residents.
The results of the March 18th Sarasota City Traffic Calming Review are now available. Approximately 50 Sarasota City residents were present to see the summary of how the city has proposed to revise the current warrant system for measuring speed patterns on local streets. Questions and suggestions to the city representatives rounded out a very informative "town meeting" event.
You can see the presentation outlining the measurement process at Sarasota City Traffic Calming.
Speeding Survey Results are now available for all of our neighborhood streets at
SPPNA TRAFFIC CALMING MAP , where you can also view what is planned for future remediation.
An Educational Event was held March 18, 2026 with a City speaker addressing city-wide efforts to manage speeds on local streets. The purpose of the event was to explain the proposed changes to the current warrant system and to gather input from neighborhood residents.
The results of the March 18th Sarasota City Traffic Calming Review are now available. Approximately 50 Sarasota City residents were present to see the summary of how the city has proposed to revise the current warrant system for measuring speed patterns on local streets. Questions and suggestions to the city representatives rounded out a very informative "town meeting" event.
You can see the presentation outlining the measurement process at Sarasota City Traffic Calming.
Speeding Survey Results are now available for all of our neighborhood streets at
SPPNA TRAFFIC CALMING MAP , where you can also view what is planned for future remediation.
A Speed Monitoring Program is now underway (May 2026) between the City of Sarasota and representatives of City Neighborhoods. This unique program allows citizens to be trained to use speed guns to accurately measure speed on local streets and record information for the Sarasota Police Department to use to determine where enforcement or traffic calming measures may be needed. Four of your neighbors have volunteered and been trained to monitor speeding using a police radar gun, and will be monitoring speeding for 1 week on selected streets.
At the March 23, 2026 Sarasota City Commission Meeting, commissioners unanimously approved reducing speed limits from 25 mph to 20 mph on most local residential roads based on a recent traffic study.
However, the Sarasota City Commission has not yet fully passed a final ordinance into law, but they have taken the major official steps toward doing so as part of the city’s broader Traffic Calming Plan. Rather than a simple resolution, the commission is moving the change forward via a formal city code ordinance amendment. Here is exactly where the initiative currently stands:
1. Unanimous Approval on First Reading on March 23, 2026, the Sarasota City Commission voted unanimously (5-0) on the first reading of a proposed ordinance to reduce citywide speed limits.
2. What the Approved Changes Outlined: The proposed changes focus heavily on residential and neighborhood safety:
- Local Residential Roads: Lowering the default speed limit from 25 mph to 20 mph. This applies to local roads where a city speed study verified that the 85th percentile of traffic is already naturally traveling at or below 20 mph.
- Collector and Arterial Roads: Setting a maximum speed limit of 35 mph (excluding major interstate connectors and U.S. 301 from 17th Street north to the city limits).
- Next Steps for Faster Roads: For neighborhood streets where the data shows drivers are consistently exceeding 20 mph, the city plans to roll out physical traffic-calming measures (such as speed tables, chicanes, or road narrowing) before officially changing the signs.
3. What’s Left Before It Takes Effect? For the speed limit reduction to become law, the ordinance must pass a second formal reading at a future City Commission meeting. While the city's Transportation Planning Division spent March and April of 2026 hosting public workshops and gathering community feedback on the neighborhood traffic maps, a definitive date for that final second reading has not yet been locked into the commission's active voting agenda. Until that second reading passes and the City Code is officially amended, the existing posted speed limits remain legally in effect.