HOLMES BEACH – City Engineer Lynn Burnett has a plan to help keep pedestrians and motorists safer during pedestrian street crossings. The first phase of that plan, to install an estimated 13 lighted crosswalks in the city, is underway.
The first of the crosswalks was installed near the intersection of Gulf Drive and 58th Street, close to the Harrington House Bed and Breakfast, in December. Now that the first one is in, Burnett plans a second one at Gulf Drive and Guava, located within a dangerous S-curve that has proven deadly for pedestrians in the past.
Burnett said the crosswalk is in the design phase and will undergo construction in the next several weeks. One of the main concerns, she said, with the placement of the crosswalk is to make sure there’s ample signage to warn drivers of the location of the crosswalk without contributing unnecessarily to the city’s sign pollution issue.
With a public beach access located at the planned Guava crossing, Burnett said plans also are underway to add a pedestrian path on the west side of Gulf Drive to allow for safe passage between the two crosswalks.
As more plans develop, each planned crosswalk will go before city commissioners for review and approval.
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