ANNA MARIA – One-way streets will not be part of the Reimagining Pine Avenue safety and traffic improvements being discussed by Anna Maria city commissioners.
The commission reached that 5-0 decision during a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 22. The decision to eliminate the concept of the one-way streets was met with approval and relief by attending residents.
The commission also reduced from four to two the potential design alternatives that contracted traffic engineer Gerry Traverso first presented on Aug. 19. The commission selected Alternatives 2 and 3 as the choices they will continue discussing. Mayor Dan Murphy noted these two alternatives may include variations to be proposed later by commissioners Deanie Sebring and Doug Copeland.
The safety and traffic improvements discussed Wednesday pertain to Pine Avenue only. Potential improvements to Spring Avenue and Magnolia Avenue will be addressed later.
Preferred design alternatives
Alternative 2 proposes buffered bike paths and sidewalks along each side of Pine Avenue. Separated from vehicular travel lanes, the new sidewalks and bike paths would improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Alternative 3 proposes sidewalks along both sides of Pine Avenue and side-by-side bike paths running in opposite directions along one side of Pine Avenue.
Both alternatives include the potential for additional stormwater treatment and improved drainage through the use of an exfiltration trench or trenches with valley gutters and inlets.
During previous discussions, Traverso said the sidewalks and bike paths could be constructed using permeable concrete or permeable pavers instead of standard concrete. This would allow for better drainage but would also significantly increase the project costs.
Traverso said the new sidewalks would be configured in a manner that maintains the existing locations of the meandering pathways in front of some Pine Avenue businesses.
Both alternatives propose the elimination of 33 public parking spaces currently located along Pine Avenue in city-owned rights of way, and that remains a subject of ongoing commission discussion.
Traffic study results
According to traffic studies that Traverso conducted in mid-June, 2,730 motor vehicles turned right from Gulf Drive onto Pine Avenue during a 24-hour weekday period and 2,639 vehicles made that turn during a 24-hour period on a Saturday.
To account for peak tourist season from February through May, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recommends increasing non-peak season traffic study figures by 16%. When adjusted for peak season, Traverso estimated 3,167 vehicles per day turn right from Gulf Drive onto Pine Avenue during a 24-hour weekday period in peak season and 3,061 vehicles do so during a 24-hour period on a Saturday.
According to the traffic study, 614 vehicles turned right onto Magnolia Avenue from Gulf Drive on a weekday and 704 vehicles did so on a Saturday. According to the study, 321 vehicles turned right from Gulf Drive onto Spring Avenue during the weekday and 415 vehicles did so on a Saturday.
One-way implications
Before the commission eliminated the concept of the one-way streets, Traverso said converting Pine Avenue into a one-way street with traffic traveling from the City Pier toward Gulf Drive would result in an estimated 3,774 vehicles turning onto Gulf Drive on a weekday and 4,067 vehicles making that turn on a Saturday.
Converting Magnolia Avenue into a one-way street with motorists traveling from Gulf Drive toward South Bay Boulevard would result in an estimated 2,525 vehicles turning right onto Magnolia from Gulf Drive on a weekday and 2,551 vehicles making that turn on a Saturday.
With Pine Avenue and Magnolia Avenue transformed into one-way streets and Spring Avenue remaining a two-way street, Traverso estimated 1,140 vehicles would turn right off Gulf Drive onto Spring Avenue on a weekday and 1,207 vehicles would make that turn on a Saturday. He estimated 1,283 vehicles would turn off Spring Avenue onto Gulf Drive during that same weekday period and an estimated 1,414 vehicles would make that turn on a Saturday.
After hearing those numbers, Copeland expressed strong opposition to the concept of the one-way streets.
“If we did the one-way pairs, you’re adding almost 5,000 cars to Spring and Magnolia. I find that totally unacceptable for those neighborhoods. I would be putting a for sale sign up if I lived on either one of those streets,” he said.
Commissioner Jon Crane suggested making Pine Avenue a one-way street while leaving Spring Avenue and Magnolia Avenue as two-way streets, but that suggestion received no support from the other commissioners.
Parallel parking spaces
Commissioners expressed differing opinions on the elimination of the parallel parking spaces located along Pine Avenue and no final decision has been made in that regard.
Copeland wants to preserve the existing parking spaces. He fears removing them would result in motorists parking in nearby residential neighborhoods and create a lack of public parking similar to what exists in the Bridge Street area of Bradenton Beach.
Sebring supports eliminating the public parking spaces along Pine Avenue. She fears preserving those parallel parking spaces could result in car doors being opened into the path of bicyclists using the new bike paths.
Traverso said the privately-owned parking spaces in front of the Pine Avenue businesses would not be eliminated or significantly impacted.
The question was again raised as to whether the privately-owned vacant lot at the corner of Pine Avenue and North Shore Drive could be used for parking. According to county records, the vacant lot was acquired by the 303 Pine LLC in June and the LLC secured a $1.3 million construction mortgage that could potentially be increased to $2.99 million.
Sebring briefly addressed the Pine Avenue parking again during Thursday’s regular city commission meeting. She expressed her hope that if the Pine Avenue parking spaces are eliminated, the Roser Memorial Community Church would provide some public parking spaces across the street from the church in exchange for the church’s continued use of the city-owned property at the west end of Tarpon Street.
Sebring also proposed using a gated area at the far end of the city-owned AMI Historical Museum property for public parking if the public parking spaces along Pine Avenue are eliminated.
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