$2.3M FEMA grant to improve Sarasota traffic signals

Nearly two years after Hurricane Ian, the city of Sarasota has been awarded more than $2.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as reimbursement for the storm. 

As the result of Hurricane Ian in 2022, traffic signals in the city were damaged by the wind, which caused delays and increased the chance of crashes, according to FEMA.

Funding through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program enables governments to rebuild in a way that reduces or mitigates future disaster, the agency says in a statement.

Sarasota was awarded $2,312,787 for its wind protection project for traffic signals.

Three intersections will be improved — Ringling Boulevard at Lime Avenue, North Orange Avenue at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Ringling Boulevard at Shade Avenue — according to Jan Thornburg, spokesperson for the city of Sarasota.

With the grant funding, span wire will be replaced with mast arms, Thornburg says. The mast arms will protect against up to 170 mph winds, enabling the signals at these intersections to remain operational in the event of a storm. 

Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, which produces winds of 130 to 157 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.