National Public Works Week: Stronger Together
By Ogden F Clark III, Strategic Affairs Manager, Manatee County Public Works
The Public Works Department is a team of nearly 500, working hard to provide vital infrastructure, support and services to our community. With 14 divisions spread across seven different work sites, the Public Works team includes a wide range of responsibilities and expertise, from field workers maintaining stormwater pipes and ditches to bus drivers to engineers designing new bridges.
We keep roadways safe by providing and operating traffic signals, street lights and pavement markings. Our engineers ensure infrastructure is properly designed, constructed, inspected and maintained. Our MCAT team provides safe and efficient transit services, while our fleet services make sure buses, ambulances and other County vehicles run smoothly. And that’s just scratching the surface!
Field Operations Services
You know that wonderful feeling when a pothole on your commute gets filled in? That’s thanks to our Field Maintenance division, which is responsible for the maintenance, repair and enhancement of nearly 1,500 miles of roadway and related right-of-way. They also maintain and repair about 650 miles of sidewalk each year.
Ever wondered who mows all those grassy medians? That’s our Field Maintenance team again, mowing over 2,500 acres of County right-of-way. They also trim and remove trees, spray ponds, and sweep and resurface our streets.
When those heavy summer rains pour down on us, Field Maintenance keeps us safe by ensuring the proper functioning of 180+ miles of canals, over 136,000 stormwater inlets, numerous off-road pipes and associated structures, roadside ditches, underground storm sewer pipelines, and over 500 acres of stormwater retention ponds.
Needless to say, the Field Maintenance team covers a lot of ground!
Also under Field Operations Services is Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT), which provides public transportation within our community. MCAT provides fixed route service via 15 bus routes 6 days a week, a Skyway Interstate 275 limited stop regional express and a free trolley service on Anna Maria Island 7 days a week. Fixed route services connect with Sarasota County via US Highway 41 and the Gulf Drive corridors. The Division also provides ADA and Transportation Disadvantaged (TD) Paratransit service by appointment to qualified individuals. This service is used heavily for acute medical care and helping citizens reach important repetitive appointments.
Our buses and other services wouldn’t be able to operate without our award-winning Fleet Services and Fuel/Inventory Operations teams. These technicians make sure our buses, ambulances and other vehicles are fueled, repaired and running efficiently.
Traffic Management
From the initial planning and design of roads and sidewalks to the setting of speed limits, installation of traffic signs and timing of traffic signals, it’s the hard work of our Traffic Management team that makes sure motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians get to their destination safely.
Mobility is a big deal in Manatee County, and it’s our Transportation Planning team’s role to analyze our current transportation issues and the impacts of new development to develop long-range plans for transportation and mobility in our community.
The details then fall to our Traffic Design team, performing traffic engineering studies to help determine things like speed limits or whether an intersection should be a multi-way stop or have a traffic signal. The team also manages the reported traffic crash database for Manatee County, maintains traffic signal system timings, and reviews development plans and traffic impact studies for overall traffic operations and safety within the County.
The day-to-day oversight falls to our Traffic Operations and Traffic Management teams.
Traffic Operations maintains the school zone flashers, street lights, signs, pavement markings and more that you pass every day. They’re also responsible for making sure traffic moves safely and efficiently during storms and other emergency events.
Our Traffic Management Center also plays a significant role, operating the centralized traffic control system for Manatee and Sarasota Counties. They manage over 470 traffic signals, more than 250 closed circuit traffic monitoring cameras, and nearly 500 vehicle detection devices to improve traffic flow during incidents. The TMC works side by side with the FDOT freeway management staff and provides real-time travel-related information through the SMART TRAFFIC website and the @941_traffic Twitter account.
Engineering Services
The major impact of Public Works projects and services on our community requires a lot of research and coordination. Our Engineering Services team works hard behind the scenes to make sure the entire department is effective and meeting all standards and requirements.
Our Infrastructure Planning team carries out sewer, potable and reuse water master plan studies and schedules out our Capital Improvement Projects.
Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) are the big ones that make a huge impact in our community. Think major roadways, intersections, sidewalks, bridges and utilities infrastructure. Our CIP Design & Review Engineering team engineers these major projects and provides support to all the other teams in planning, maintenance and operations to see these major projects through. At the same time, our Project Management team oversees Manatee County’s CIP program from the onset of planning to final completion of the project, managing the contracts and agreements necessary for roadway and utility infrastructure construction.
What else has a major impact on our community that you may not even think twice about? Stormwater systems! Our Stormwater Engineering team makes sure our stormwater facilities are inspected and maintained to meet rigorous standards, and the reports this team puts together allow for discounts on flood insurance premiums in our community.
No major development project, public or private, can be approved without our Development Review team ensuring its compliance with County Land Development Code, Comprehensive Plan, and Public Works & Public Utilities Standards.
And finally, the Infrastructure Inspections team is responsible for the inspection of all the county’s infrastructure, including commercial and development projects. They also manage key County permit programs including Right-of-Way Use and Oversize Vehicle permits.
From start to finish, our Engineering Services team makes sure major County projects are well-planned, comply with standards and requirements, and get completed safely and efficiently.
Stronger Together
Every member of our Public Works department plays a key role in making sure Manatee County runs smoothly. A huge thank you to all of our technicians, operators, engineers, planners, project managers, inspectors, trainees, fiscal and admin staff, and more for all that you do! Your hard work, excellence and impeccable collaboration do not go unnoticed. We are stronger together!
