DeSantis cut several Sarasota-Manatee construction projects. Here's what remains

Melissa Pérez-Carrillo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida's latest budget on Thursday, cutting and approving several construction and maintenance projects in Manatee and Sarasota County.

About $511 million was vetoed from the original $117 billion total, bringing the final budget to $116.5 billion. Here's what local projects were approved and vetoed.

What local projects were vetoed by DeSantis?

Sarasota County

  • $4 million: Road-widening project on Fruitville Road between Debreccen Road and Lorraine Road and construction of sidewalks and bike lines along that stretch.

  • $1 million: Project that would re-establish a tidal connection between the Gulf of Mexico and Little Sarasota Bay.

  • $4 million: Indoor sports complex at Nathan Benderson Park. It will also serve as a staging facility during hurricanes and a post-storm shelter.

  • $1 million: Replacement for aging water main and sewer main that cross Alligator Creek in Sarasota County.

  • $250,000: Bobby Jones Nature Park project will be turning some of the Sarasota golf complex into a park.

  • $800,000: Whitaker & Hudson Bayous Water Quality Project, which will improve Sarasota’s stormwater infrastructure.

  • $500,000: Relocation of Venice’s Fire Station #2, which is currently in an Evacuation Level A zone for hurricanes.

  • $600,000: Expansion of Sarasota Academy of the Arts.

  • $1.5 million: Construction of a Florida Studio Theatre building that will include workforce housing, parking spots and new theatre facilities.

  • $1.5 million: Permitting and construction site costs of a multipurpose facility for the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.

  • $750,000: Measures to protect the shell midden and shoreline at Historic Spanish Point from erosion and storms.

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Manatee County

$1.1 million: Improvements to Manatee County Area Transit Route 99 operations.$250,000: Tidal check valves on storm sewer outfalls in the city of Bradenton.$1.4 million: Bradenton Public Safety Operations Center. The city is remodeling the former Red Cross regional headquarters on 59th Street West into a public safety operations center, according to the city’s request form.

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What local projects were approved by DeSantis?

Sarasota County

  • $2 million: Construction of the Regional Fire/EMS Training Academy, which is a partnership between the Sarasota County School Board, the county and other government entities. It will provide training both to people wanting to become firefighters or EMTs and to individuals already in those fields. The state funding requested this year will pay for some of the cost of building the facility.

  • $8 million: Project to widen Laurel Road between Knights Trail Road and Jacaranda Boulevard, build a multi-use recreational trail along the road and add a traffic light to the intersection of Jacaranda and Laurel.

  • $1.5 million: Widening of Price Boulevard from two to five lanes in North Port. The project also includes other improvements such as a multi-use path on both sides of the road and mitigation measures to prevent damage during hurricanes.

  • $850,000: Replacement of Venice’s 1950’s water mains along Tarpon Center Drive and corroded water mains on Inlet Circle and Gibbs Road.

  • $1,541,985: Longboat Key’s potable water system. The town plans to replace asbestos cement water pipes that were installed in the 1960’s and 1970’s with new pipes.

  • $15 million: "Senator Nancy C. Detert Home of Your Own Project" at the Loveland Center, which was sponsored by Boyd. The project will build an affordable housing complex, and 40% of the residents will be individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and 60% will be low-income seniors.

  • $1.5 million: Community Assisted & Supported Living (CASL) program that provides people with mental health struggles with housing, outreach, case management and other services.

  • $1 million: All Star Children's Foundation's work serving youth and families in foster care.

Manatee County

  • $2 million: Guy Harvey Academy of Arts and Science at Anna Maria Elementary School.

  • $1.4 million: Project to improve safety and accessibility along Pine Avenue in the city of Anna Maria and address the impact of seasonal traffic, according to the city’s funding request form.

  • $4 million: Widening and extension of 44th Avenue East.

  • $2.5 million: Widening of the Fort Hamer Road from the north side of the Fort Hamer Bridge to Moccasin Wallow Road.

  • $3 million: Construction of second Fort Hamer two-lane bridge.

  • $2.5 million: Construction of two lanes of the ultimate four-lane roadway extension of 51st Street West from 53rd Avenue West to El Conquistador, according to the county’s request form. The project also involves street lighting and bike/pedestrian facilities.

  • $500,000: Emergency standby power generators at multiple sanitary sewer lift stations in the city of Bradenton.

  • $1 million: New field with lighting and to add lighting to an existing field at 9th Street Park.

  • $8 million: Widening of a segment of Moccasin Wallow Road.

  • $2 million: Constructing Parrish Fire District station #2.

  • $375,000: for the city of Bradenton’s sanitary sewer lining program for infiltration/inflow reduction.

Contributing: Anne Snabes and Zac Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DeSantis vetoes several Sarasota-Manatee construction projects