ANNA MARIA – The ongoing efforts to “Reimagine Pine Avenue” may or may not include transforming Pine Avenue into a one-way street.
That possibility was among the many alternatives discussed at the town-hall style public information meeting held at Anna Maria City Hall on Thursday, July 1. Gerry Traverso, the city’s contracted traffic engineer, served as the main presenter and discussion moderator.
The Pine Avenue corridor study area includes Spring Avenue, Magnolia Avenue and those connected portions of Gulf Drive and Bay Drive South.
In mid-May, the City Commission authorized the $50,274 “Reimagining Pine Avenue” study conducted by Traverso and the George F. Young civil engineering firm.
About 20 citizens and business owners attended the Thursday morning meeting that lasted an hour and 20 minutes. Several attendees posed questions and expressed their opinions about the study and the potential actions it may produce.
Traverso said a main goal of the study is to increase safety within the Pine Avenue corridor. He shared several observations he and others have made regarding the study area including traffic flow and vehicular interactions with pedestrians, bicycles, golf carts, scoot coupes, skateboards and scooters. Traverso said these alternative modes of transportation result in fewer cars being on the roads, but also create problems of their own.
Traverso said he observed a Fed Ex driver park his truck in a travel lane and unload boxes while parked in the road, which forced other motorists to drive around the truck and into the other lane. Traverso said this creates both safety and operational issues. Traverso said he received positive feedback from the business owners he spoke to about potentially limiting business deliveries to a specific time period such as 5 a.m. to 8 a.m.
He said he also witnessed a large pickup truck nearly run over a low riding, three-wheeled scoot coupe.
Traverso has safety concerns regarding uncontrolled and mid-block street crossings. He said hedges placed between the sidewalks and the road could be used to funnel pedestrians to the crosswalks and to the designated mid-block crossing areas that could feature beacons that flash while pedestrians are crossing.
In response to a question posed by Anna Maria resident Janet Kinghan, Traverso said The Donut Experiment and the Anna Maria General Store might be possible locations for mid-block crossings that feature lighted beacons when pedestrians are crossing.
Traverso also has safety concerns created by the lack of sidewalks in some areas. Traverso noted the south side of Spring Avenue has sidewalks but the north side has “sidewalk gaps” that often force people out into the road.
“Once they hit the pavement they do not go back to the sidewalk. We have to keep them on the sidewalk and provide this connectivity,” Traverso said, noting sidewalk gaps also exist elsewhere in the study area.
“We have a set amount of right of way. We have competing interests. Who do we give the priority – vehicles or pedestrians or bicyclists? Can we do a mix of all?” he said.
In regard to potentially transforming Pine Avenue into a one-way street, Traverso said, “If you do that, you can repurpose the lane you’re not using now and convert it to on-street parallel parking, a bike track and sidewalks. There’s a lot of different alternatives you can do.”
Meeting attendee Janet Riley lives on Magnolia Avenue and she said she has seen an “insane” increase in traffic on that street in recent years.
Riley asked Traverso what he has in mind for Spring and Magnolia avenues. She noted many of those who purchased residential property along those streets did not do so with the intent of their streets serving as an access point to the restaurants, stores, shops and other businesses along Pine Avenue. She also expressed concerns about rerouting additional traffic onto those streets if transforming Pine Avenue into a one-way street.
Traverso said the pavement is wider on Magnolia than it is on Spring and the potential alternative being discussed would entail Pine Avenue and Magnolia Avenue becoming one-way streets, with Spring Avenue located between them and remaining a two-way street.
34-year Anna Maria resident Sherry Oehler said she too is concerned about routing more traffic into those residential areas.
Traverso said making Pine Avenue a one-way street is one potential alternative, but it is not the only potential alternative. He said each proposed alternative will have pros and cons and the mayor and commission will ultimately decide which solutions to carry out.
North Shore Café owner Collen Geller said her café installed more bike racks than the city originally requested and she may install more. She suggested encouraging businesses to install or increase the number of bike racks they currently have. She also suggested bike racks be placed at vacation rental homes to further encourage bikes as an alternative mode of transportation.
Thursday’s meeting will be followed by a second public information meeting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7. Traverso will present his final report and proposed solutions on July 29.
During Thursday’s meeting, Traverso noted the project website, www.ReimaginingPineAvenue.com, was launched that morning.
After the meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy said, “I was very pleased with the public input we had. We’ve got a lot of different ideas and some very specific concerns were brought up for us to consider.”
