LONGBOAT KEY — The Florida Department of Transportation will host a forum on updates to the ongoing barrier island traffic study on Tuesday evening on Longboat Key.

The workshop is designed to give residents an opportunity to hear updates on the overall study of traffic patterns on, to and from the keys along the coasts of Sarasota and Manatee counties from the Florida Department of Transportation engineers who are working on the project.

The event will run from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Longboat Island Chapel at 6200 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Possible recommendations for different modes of transportation will be presented, according to a news release about the event.

The comprehensive study is evaluating traffic patterns across the barrier islands, from Lido Key to Anna Maria Island, and the trips made on and off them. It is also studying transit services there, parking availability and rules, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

An initial phase of the study is complete, and FDOT has been collecting traffic data on the project throughout the year and through the upcoming season. It also is studying land use and parking now.

Many barrier islands residents and officials have placed a lot of their hopes for long-desired traffic improvements on the results of the study.

Outgoing Longboat Key Town Manager Dave Bullock also told Sarasota County officials last month that he has asked FDOT to begin using the data collected so far under the study to help evaluate improvement projects on the mainland, too.

He specifically pointed to the planned roundabout at U.S. 41 and Gulfstream Avenue in downtown Sarasota and suggested the new data, with higher traffic counts, could potentially prove a roundabout would not function properly at the critical intersection. Plans for that intersection are still under development for the next several years, FDOT officials have said.

The full barrier islands traffic study is expected to be complete next fall.