By Ned Steele

Chalk up another Helene-Milton victim – temporarily.

The $11.36 million county project to repave some 37 miles of Siesta Key roadways, begun last August and originally expected to finish next month, has been halted so storm cleanup efforts can continue.

“Due to the impacts of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, the resurfacing project has been suspended until 2025 to allow for residents, businesses, and County employees to continue with recovery operations,” the County announced last month.

Whether that means work will begin again in January or farther into the year isn’t yet clear, but the County has posted a Spring 2025 projected completion date.

According to the County, the job is about half done with approximately 19 miles having been resurfaced.

Had the original completion date been met, most of the work would have been wrapped up just as the season’s peak took hold. The delay means that at least some work will now have to take place at the busiest, most heavily trafficked times of the year.

The project’s contractor, Ajax Paving Industries, will provide a tentative schedule for the remaining 18 miles at an undetermined date in the future. The County has created a web page that breaks out the status of the work in detail: https://www.scgov.net/government/capital-projects/selected-county-projects/resurfacing-siesta-key

Sarasota County’s penny surtax is funding the repaving. According to a presentation earlier this year to the Siesta Key Association by project manager Terra Ray, “This is a resurfacing project, not a reconstruction project. We are trying to address drainage concerns.”

The project includes milling and paving, pavement striping, ADA ramp modifications, curb repairs and roadway base repairs

When complete, the project will have redone most of Beach Road starting from the Midnight Pass intersection, with extra reinforcement for the heavily used section adjoining Siesta Beach, and numerous residential roads on the northern end of the Key between Ocean Boulevard and Midnight Pass Road. Repaving on the southern end of the Key will include Point of Rocks Road and Point of Rocks Circle, Crescent Street and Dee Place.