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Drivers slow down in Holmes Beach

Drivers must slow to 25 mph in Holmes Beach

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Drivers beware. You’ll have to hit the brakes a little more than usual when driving through Holmes Beach.

Commissioners voted three-to-one to pass a resolution on Feb. 8 lowering the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on all city-maintained streets. The change takes effect as soon as Police Chief Bill Tokajer can have the 35 mph signs in the city removed.

Commissioner Kim Rash was absent from the Feb. 8 commission meeting and Commissioner Jayne Christenson voted against lowering the speed limit.

During commission discussion, Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he thinks lowering the speed limit city-wide will also lower the chance of vehicular accidents resulting in injuries.

Christenson argued that lowering the speed limit won’t reduce congestion on Holmes Beach streets. She said it would prevent people from driving faster in areas where it was permitted when traffic congestion isn’t an issue. Those sentiments were echoed by two residents who stepped up to speak on the subject during public comment.

“You’re penalizing the residents who live here, work here and are trying to get home,” Christenson said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

Instead, she suggested having a 25 mph speed limit during the day and a 35 mph speed limit at night.

Commissioner Pat Morton said the traffic in Holmes Beach doesn’t stop after dark and he thinks it’s up to city leaders to bring some safety back to city streets regarding drivers.

By lowering the speed limit, low-speed vehicles and golf carts are permitted to be driven on all city streets except Manatee Avenue and East Bay Drive, which are state roads, where the speed limit is set by the Florida Department of Transportation. Holmes Beach is the only Anna Maria Island city where golf carts are allowed to be driven. A golf cart is not required to be registered with the state and does not have a license plate.

Commissioner Carol Soustek said the different kinds of vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and other users on city roads and sidewalks led her to believe that lowering the speed limit to 25 mph would help curb some of the safety issues on city streets.

“We’ve got to do something,” she said, adding that changing the speed limit wouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution but that she thinks it would give drivers more peace of mind on the road. If it doesn’t produce the desired results, Soustek said the decision could be revisited by commissioners in the future.

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LSV, golf cart talks take a turn

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – A new idea is before Holmes Beach city commissioners to help make streets safer for golf carts, low-speed vehicles, motor vehicles, bicyclists and everyone else – lowering the speed limit citywide to 25 mph.

In previous years, lowering the speed limit anywhere in the city has been met with concern from commissioners and residents because of a potential increase in time that it would take to travel along Holmes Beach’s main thoroughfares. Now, with a moratorium in place to give commissioners time to work on regulations for LSV rental companies and a boom in the use of the vehicles by residents and visitors, setting a citywide speed limit is being strongly considered with the support of Chief Bill Tokajer and City Engineer Sage Kamiya.

For the safety of golf cart and LSV users, commissioners have been considering lowering the speed limit along one stretch of Gulf Drive in the A-1 district from 35 mph to 25 mph and pushing the limited speed vehicles into more residential neighborhoods and off Palm/Marina Drive. During a Dec. 14 work session, Kamiya proposed a different solution – lowering the speed limit citywide to 25 mph or less.

In a Dec. 20 talk with The Sun, Tokajer said that he supports lowering the speed limit citywide for several reasons. The first is that it would eliminate the need to have a golf cart/LSV trail through Holmes Beach that would push more of the vehicles into residential neighborhoods where the speed limit is already 25 mph.

He said that by setting a 25 mph citywide speed limit, the need to educate visitors on the city’s LSV speed regulations and what streets they can drive the vehicles on would be eliminated because they could be driven on any city street other than Manatee Avenue and East Bay Drive, where the speed limit will remain 35 mph for the foreseeable future. Those two streets are state roads and regulated by the Florida Department of Transportation, which has stated in memos to the city that golf carts and LSVs are not permitted to be operated on the two state roads.

In Holmes Beach there are only a few city-controlled areas where the speed limit is 35 mph – about three blocks in front of Anna Maria Elementary School on Gulf Drive, 10 blocks along Palm Drive and about eight blocks on Gulf Drive.

During his presentation to commissioners, Kamiya said that he drove three times through the city’s various 35 mph corridors to determine what the average time savings would be at 35 mph versus 25 mph. From White Avenue to 27th Street along Gulf/Marina Drive, he determined that the difference in travel time averaged 58 seconds. From White Avenue to Gulf Drive along Marina Drive, he determined that the average difference in travel time was only 28 seconds.

Tokajer said that the proposed citywide speed limit would be less confusing for motorists and golf cart/LSV users. He added that it would also reduce sign pollution in the city, eliminating the need for signs pointing to golf cart/LSV-friendly streets and allowing for many of the speed limit signs already in the city to be removed.

For Holmes Beach police officers, the change to a citywide speed limit would allow them to worry more about enforcing safety regulations such as the occupancy of LSVs and golf carts and the city’s seat belt regulations rather than being concerned about which speed zone the vehicles are being operated in.

The discussion will continue in January at an upcoming commission work session.

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FDOT approves Holmes Beach speed changes

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH — It didn’t take long for the Florida Department of Transportation to respond to Holmes Beach commissioners’ request to return the Holmes Beach speed limit to 35 miles per hour west of the Anna Maria Island Bridge.
Holmes Beach drivers were in an uproar after the FDOT lowered the speed limit across the bridge from 45 to 35 m.p.h. and reduced speed west of the bridge from 35 to 25 m.p.h. without notice.
During a special meeting convened Feb. 16, commissioners unanimously voted to request a reversal of the FDOT decision.
David Gwynn, FDOT Director of Transportation Operations, sent a same-day response Feb. 22 to Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson’s e-mailed request to increase the speed limit west of the bridge to its previous posted limit.
While Gwynn agreed to reverse the change, in his e-mail, he maintained the speed study completed prior to the change and submitted to the city after new signs were posted remains valid. He said another one would not be conducted by the department at this time. The change took effect Feb. 28.
Commissioners also voted 4 to 1, with Commissioner Pat Morton dissenting, to increase the speed limit from 25 to 35 m.p.h. along a stretch of Gulf Drive from 43rd Street to 52nd Street near Anna Maria Elementary School.
The change went into effect Feb. 22.

Holmes Beach police

Road rage lowers speed limit

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH — Drivers crossing the Anna Maria Island bridge may have noticed a recent speed limit change.

The slowdown going in and out of Holmes Beach via Manatee Avenue isn’t all due to extra traffic. Beginning Jan. 30, the speed limit from the Manatee Public Beach on Manatee Avenue to the Anna Maria Island Bridge was slowed to 25 mph. Speed across the bridge was slowed from 45 to 35 mph.

Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, who also serves as the city’s traffic engineer, reached out to the Florida Department of Transportation in 2015 and again in 2016 about reducing the speed limit along the quarter-mile stretch of road in Holmes Beach. The state agency responded by lowering not only the speed on the stretch of Island road, but also across the bridge on the approach to Holmes Beach.

Tokajer said his primary reason for requesting the change is increased safety on a shared road. With the road frequented by pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, he said the speed limit needed to be lowered to help prevent accidents. Another reason for the slow down is the amount of traffic going in and out of Kingfish boat ramp.

“You can’t put a cross walk on a bridge, so we have to slow people down,” Tokajer said. “It’s dangerous for people to come over that bridge at high speeds. Our whole thing is public safety.”

The final speed limit determination was made by FDOT because Manatee Avenue is a state road.

In his opinion, Tokajer said the speed limit slow down was not expected to increase traffic congestion in the area. He said the public response he’s received to the change has been primarily positive.

However, that’s not the reaction Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore has received. In a letter sent to Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson on Sunday, Feb. 5 and obtained by The Sun on Monday, Feb. 6, Whitmore said she fielded calls all last week from people angry over the speed limit reduction.

“You have a lot of islanders that are very upset,” Whitmore wrote, adding that she was concerned that no notice was given to residents before the change was made.

“I don’t think the speed limit can be reduced on a state road to 25 mph without public input,” Whitmore wrote. “I do not recall any public meetings regarding this action by the city.

“I don’t believe this was a safety issue, personally,” she concluded.

After The Sun posted on its Facebook page a video from Tokajer explaining the speed limit reduction to social media, comments were mixed with a few concerned that the change was to create a speed trap in the area.

While motorists become accustomed to the change, Tokajer said officers will be issuing warnings for minor violations.

Island resident Kelly Smith said the reduced speed limit contributed to an added 30 minutes to her commute off-island.

However, Capt. Mark Howard, owner of SumoTime Fishing Charters of Anna Maria Island, commented that he supports an Island-wide reduced speed limit.

For his part, Tokajer said he hopes motorists abide by the new speed limit and safely share the road.

“You’re in paradise, slow down and enjoy the view,” he said.