ANNA MARIA – City officials have discussed asking Manatee County to expand the MCAT Free Island Trolley service to include trolley service to the Bean Point area, but no rerouting of the county-controlled trolleys is currently pending.
The trolley discussion began during the Oct. 22 city commission meeting, when Mayor Mark Short said the city is moving forward with a request to use Manatee County tourist development tax revenues to help fund the installation of a permanent, more flood-resistant trolley stop near the City Pier. In March, the city installed a temporary trolley stop near the pier, along South Bay Boulevard, across the street from the Bayview Plaza.
Short noted the temporary trolley stop is prone to flooding and the trolley drivers won’t stop there when too much water has accumulated. They instead pull over on Pine Avenue, near the City Pier Park restrooms, where the trolley stop was briefly located.
Before the hurricane-necessitated reconstruction of the City Pier began, the trolley stop was located on the northwest side of the City Pier entrance area. Short said when that area is no longer being used as a pier reconstruction staging area, 10 additional parking spaces will become available because the trolley stop was moved.
Within the past year or so, the free trolleys were rerouted along Magnolia Avenue, and they now pass by The Center of Anna Maria Island en route to South Bay Boulevard. Before Magnolia Avenue became part of the trolley route, the trolleys traveled down Pine Avenue, stopped at the pier and returned up Pine Avenue headed toward Gulf Drive.
Commissioner Chris Arendt asked if The Center will eventually get a dedicated trolley stop. Short said he hopes so.
Commissioner Gary McMullen then suggested running the trolleys to Bean Point.
“I don’t know how practical it is, but to solve our (parking) issues with Bean Point, can we reroute the trolley to go around to Bean Point and come back on North Shore to Pine?”
McMullen said that addition to the trolley route might help address concerns about there not being enough public parking in the residential areas near Bean Point.
“Everybody’s concerned about getting to Bean Point,” McMullen said.
Short said he and city staff could investigate that idea.
DISCUSSION CONTINUES
Running the trolleys past Bean Point was discussed again during the joint city commission/Planning and Zoning Board parking discussion on Oct. 27. A potential trolley stop at Bayfront Park was also briefly mentioned.
The main topic of the Oct. 27 meeting was the city’s proposed parking management system that’s expected to include resident permit parking in residential areas, paid parking near some beach access areas, free timed parking in the business district and employee parking, but significant discussion about trolley service to Bean Point also ensued that day.
Commissioner Kathy Morgan Johnson asked Short if he spoke with anyone from the county about the trolleys going to Bean Point. Short said he initiated contact, but those communications were in an early stage.
McMullen said the trolleys have trouble making the turn onto Magnolia Avenue when there are other cars waiting at the stop sign on Magnolia Avenue, at the Gulf Drive intersection.
“They wait, they wait, they wait,” McMullen said. “And I think it would be better for them to still go on Pine.”
Joining the discussion, Planning and Zoning Board Chair Jeff Rodencal said he agreed that the Magnolia Avenue trolley route presents some challenges pertaining to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Short said the city’s intent is to keep trolleys traveling down Magnolia and past The Center before turning left on South Bay Boulevard, stopping near the pier and then turning left onto Pine Avenue.
Rodencal said the proposed trolley loop to Bean Point is a creative idea, but it raises some questions. He asked if the humpback bridge on North Bay Boulevard is rated to handle vehicles that large passing over it several times a day. Short said the bridge could handle the trolley traffic.
Rodencal said there were also some considerations to be given to the idea of the trolleys traveling on North Shore Drive. He said pedestrians frequently walk down North Shore Drive as if it’s a pedestrian path rather than a city street. He also noted there are speed bumps on North Shore Drive.
It was suggested that it might be better for the trolleys to travel back from Bean Point using North Bay Boulevard and then turning right onto Pine Avenue.
Arendt questioned whether the trolleys not traveling the entire length of Pine Avenue as they currently do would affect the Pine Avenue businesses.
“If we do the loop and bring it back, then we solve the Pine Avenue problem as well,” he said of the trolley returning to Pine Avenue via North Bay Boulevard.
Commissioner Charlie Salem said he’s attracted to the idea of the trolley service being expanded to bring people to the places they really want to go.
Arendt asked how much time the Bean Point loop would add to the existing trolley route. Short said he’s lobbied county officials and Tourist Development Council members to invest in more trolleys for the Island. Short said county officials have acknowledged that the Free Island Trolleys have the highest ridership of any route in the countywide MCAT bus system.
“The highest ridership is the trolleys on this Island, by far,” Short said. “When I last spoke with them three, maybe four weeks ago, I was told that they’re actually re-evaluating routes within Manatee County to discontinue a number of them because of lack of ridership. Lack of ridership is not a problem on this Island. Lack of capacity is the problem on this Island. What they told me is it’s not so much the trolley, the vehicle, it is the driver. Their issue is that they only have so many qualified drivers.”
Short said if the county eliminates or reduces some of the lesser-used MCAT bus routes, that might free up more buses and more drivers for the Island.
Short acknowledged that Bean Point is a popular visitor destination, but it’s also located in a residential area.
“We know people want to go there,” he said.
McMullen said a Manatee County sheriff’s deputy told him most people who want to watch the sunset in Anna Maria want to do so at Bean Point.
“That’s what social media has done,” Short said.
Related coverage: Anna Maria parking discussions continue
