St. Armands Key merchants battered by three hurricanes in 2024 and repeated flooding since then will get upgraded evacuation routes under a $4 million state funding package the City of Sarasota announced Thursday, July 9.
The appropriation, approved in the state budget by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is split among three projects: $2,499,750 for Whitaker Bayou dredging, $1.25 million for St. Armands Key corridor improvements and $250,000 for citywide ADA barrier removal, according to a city press release.
The funding arrives at a moment of visible urgency. A stormwater pump malfunction flooded sections of St. Armands Circle on Friday, July 24, and a thunderstorm three days later sent water into shops again, fraying merchants' nerves, the Business Observer reported.
Of the 130 street-level commercial spaces on St. Armands Circle, roughly 90 were occupied as of January, with some storefronts still boarded more than a year after Hurricane Milton, the Business Observer reported. Visit Sarasota County research shows the Circle attracted 53% of all visitors to the county in fiscal year 2025.
"You can't keep merchants in business if they're constantly having to get rid of all their inventory and redo their stores after they've had flooding," City Commissioner Liz Alpert said in a January WUSF interview about the area's vulnerability.
Whitaker Bayou: The biggest piece
The $2.5 million state grant adds to a $20 million dredging project already funded by roughly $10 million in federal Section 219 environmental infrastructure money and approximately $10 million in Resilient SRQ disaster recovery funds. The dredging aims to remove approximately 118,000 cubic yards of sediment from the 3.6-mile tidal reach of Whitaker Bayou. Hydrographic surveys from 2024 found the channel can no longer handle even a two-year storm event. Backwater flooding from the clogged bayou affects about 210 residences and closes U.S. 301 at Myrtle Street for up to eight hours during moderate storms.
City documents project the dredging will protect about $350 million in assessed value along U.S. 41 and the working waterfront.
Public Works Director Nikesh Patel is leading the city's effort. The project schedule calls for final design and permit submittal in summer 2026, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state environmental approvals by late 2026, a contract award in summer 2027, and dredging to begin by late 2027, with substantial completion targeted for summer 2028.
St. Armands evacuation corridors
The $1.25 million will go toward improving primary evacuation routes on St. Armands Key. The city says the work will enhance evacuation readiness, reduce flooding and restore access more quickly after tropical weather. Specific construction timelines and scope details have not been released.
The grant adds to the $13.5 million in federal Resilient SRQ funds Sarasota County allocated in December 2025 for stormwater pump upgrades, generator improvements and tidal check valves on the key, plus an $8 million power-line burial project the City Commission approved July 20.
ADA improvements and what's next
The $250,000 ADA allocation will fund accessibility upgrades at city facilities, parks and public rights-of-way. The city has not specified which locations will be addressed first.
The city credited state Reps. Fiona McFarland and James Buchanan and Sen. Joe Gruters for championing the appropriations in Tallahassee. Residents can track the Whitaker Bayou project timeline through the city's Public Works Department. No public comment period for the St. Armands corridor work has been announced.
