The process is the problem.
Less than a month after the Florida Department of Transportation installed lower speed-limit signs on Manatee Avenue in Holmes Beach, the speed limit is reverting to 35 mph.
Commissioners approved a resolution Feb. 16 asking the DOT to reinstate the 35-mph speed limit effective Feb. 24 on State Road 64 from the west end of the Anna Maria Island Bridge to Gulf Drive, where the speed recently was lowered to 25 mph.
Some 30-40 people spoke Feb. 14 against the lowered speed limits, complaining about increased congestion and a negative impact on safety if emergency vehicles cannot enter and exit the island.
Bradenton resident Frank McAndrews said he favored returning to the former speeds in both directions on Manatee Avenue.
“I see no need to change it and further congest the traffic and frustrate our residents and tourists and visitors like myself,” McAndrews said, adding he has traveled the roadway for 11 years.
Ron Travis, a real estate broker and resident of Holmes Beach, agreed, 25 mph is not a reasonable speed.
“I’m not in that big of a hurry to go somewhere but I’d like traffic to move along at a reasonable speed,” Travis said. “We’ve got a lot of people and we’re not going anywhere fast.”
For Laurel Nevins, the speed limit reduction is just “pushing the problems” and increasing her stress level so much that she’s now thinking of leaving the island.
“My car does not go that slowly,” Nevins said. “I don’t think the speed-limit reduction has done anything to increase our safety. All it makes me do is not leave my house until 10 o’clock at night.”
One of a few people speaking in support of the lowered speed limit, Loretta Esterbooks, a resident of Key Royale, said she rides her bike 98 percent of the time and has almost been hit a number of times, in particular, on Manatee Avenue between the beach and Publix.
“If you’re a biker, or if you are trying to avoid bikers, it’s much easier if you’re going 25 mph,” Esterbrooks said.
Key Royale resident and bicyclist Tony Rizzo, a musician and a physician, said he wished the desire for safety was tempered with more common sense.
“People are driving recklessly because of the lower speed limit,” Rizzo said. “Getting anywhere in Holmes Beach is a tremendous chore and really primarily the result of the lower speed limit.”
Mayor Bob Johnson said his biggest issue with the speed limit change was the lack of communication.
Major revisions to a traffic regulation are to be presented to the commission before becoming effective, according to Sec. 62-4 of the city code. Also, proposed traffic regulations should be in writing and signed by the traffic engineer and posted in city hall seven days before commission consideration.
Officials were notified of the speed changes on portions of State Road 64/Manatee Avenue that became effective Jan. 30 in a Jan. 24 letter from the DOT’s Tanya King to Manatee County Commission Chair Betsy Benac.
The letter was sent to Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer via certified mail, but not received at city hall until after the speed signs were posted Jan. 30.
The speed limit change was not reviewed or approved by commissioners, which resulted in “voluminous public comment” at the Feb. 14 meeting, according to the resolution adopted during the Feb. 16 special meeting.
Johnson said the breakdown in terms of communication was because the DOT “wasn’t aware of our local process.”
“The absolutely correct thing to do is to get us back to where we should have been when we woke up one day and saw signs,” Johnson said, adding the process should have first included a speed zoning-type study to determine the appropriate speed for the area.
The DOT provided an engineering analysis that supported a lower speed limit and attributed the change to a request from Police Chief Bill Tokajer in regard to reports of safety problems and the area’s “high pedestrian volume.”
But Tokajer said he did not receive the letter until after the signs were posted Jan. 30.
“They did not come back to us until after the fact, when I got the letter on the sixth. We got no notification from them, no phone calls from them. When I left the island on the 30th, the speed was still the same,” Tokajer said.
Johnson said he and Tokajer had agreed to ask the DOT for a review of the speed on the bridge and at the entry to the city and he expected the DOT to first get back to the city. But that didn’t happen.
Commissioners passed the resolution seeking to reinstate the speed limit to 35 mph on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Pat Morton opposed.
Morton was not in favor of returning the speed limit on the island side of the bridge to 35 mph because “that’s not going to solve the traffic problem.
“The speed limit is not causing congestion,” Morton said.
Commissioner Jean Peelen said the lower 25 mph speed limit is not what troubled her the most.
“My whole issue is with the process and the process was absolutely not followed,” Peelen said.
Commission Chair Judy Titsworth said speed limit changes need to come before the commission.
“It was not handled correctly,” Titsworth said.
Following the Feb. 14 motion for the resolution to return the 35-mph limit on Manatee Avenue, Peelen motioned to return the speed limit on Gulf Drive fronting the elementary school to 35 mph.
The second motion was approved with an effective date of Feb. 24, reinstating the speed to 35 mph.
The commission will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
Face it , this is a “ways and means project” by out of control government agencies looking to fund their bloated budgets. It’s like getting a $80 seat belt violation in a 25 mph zone. It’s ok to not wear a helmet on a scooter and be in that same traffic but you better have your seatbelt on in your car.
Beam me up Scotty, there’s no intelligent life down here! Save us Donald!
Now they even ask for another independent study? Just to refresh your memory:
About two years ago, we paid the Urban Land Institute $ 125 000 to evaluate the situation here on the island and after a thorough study they recommended “ways to improve connectivity (traffic flow, congestion, parking)“:
“Mobility Guiding Principles
1. No Car Should Be Required To Meet Daily Needs
2. Cars, While Convenient, Impose Impacts on Island Residents
3. Prioritize Short Trips and Higher Capacity Vehicles
4. Provide A Free, Convenient Way For County Residents to Access Beach
5. On-Island Travel Will Be Slow and Safe (Recognizing Bikes and Pedestrians) “ !!!
source: slide show ULI Advisory Services Program, Anna Maria Island, Feb 22-27, 2015
http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/AnnaMariaIslandPanel.pdf
full report:
http://uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/AnnaMariaIsland-FL_PanelReport_web1.pdf
Here you go.
The rules for posted speed limits in the FDOT manual, Topic #750-010-002, say limits should be set within 3 mph of the actual 85th percentile speed of free flowing traffic under good conditions. The rules allow setting limits 4 to 8 mph below the 85th percentile speeds IF accompanied by an engineering investigation with reasons why that was done. The rules PROHIBIT setting limits more than 8 mph below the actual 85th percentile speeds. Unfortunately, FDOT often violates its own rules, particularly when local governments ask it to do so for reasons that are invalid for safety. This was clearly one such example.
A more common practice is FDOT allowing posted limits to be about 10 mph below the 85th percentile speeds in order to make the yellow intervals too short for the actual approach speeds at red light camera intersections. This is how FDOT violates its own speed limit rules in order to increase the number of $83 commissions on each $158 red light camera ticket to support the state budget.
FDOT is an active for-profit business partner in the red light camera racket in Florida. The cameras should be outlawed to end this vicious for-profit racket.
James C. Walker, National Motorists Association
Speed limit on Gulf Drive
The decision to restore the speed limit on Gulf Drive between 43rd and 52nd Street to 35 mph is not reasonable and dangerous. There are kids being picked up by the school bus every morning and many have to cross Gulf Drive to get to their bus stops. The bus going to MHS picks up between 6 and 6.30 am when it is still dark but there is already a lot of traffic. The drivers never see the kids standing at the crosswalks, they never stop, so the kids just have to run over when there is a gap between the cars. We were so relieved when the speed limit was changed to 25 mph and we can`t believe that people think it is more important to save 1 minute driving time than a pedestrian’s life.