What goes down must come up?
Despite lowering speed limits at the suggestion of Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, who was supported by Mayor Bob Johnson and some safety- concerned residents, the Florida Department of Transportation will return the 35-mph limit on Manatee Avenue.
But what happens next remains unclear.
In a Feb. 22 email to Keith Slater, traffic operations engineer for DOT District 1, including Manatee County, Johnson — as directed by city commissioners — requested the DOT reinstate the 35-mph speed limit on State Road 64/Manatee Avenue from milepost 0.000 to milepost 0.675 — from the Anna Maria Island Bridge west to the Manatee Public Beach — adding the city “concurs with all other changes made on SR 64.”
Johnson told Slater the city’s request for an engineering and traffic investigation for “possibly lowering the speed limit entering the city” was not made in accordance with the city code that requires major traffic regulations be presented to the commission before becoming effective.
“Such a request should have been vetted prior to its submission,” Johnson wrote.
According to a Feb. 22 email to Johnson from DOT’s David Gwinn, district director of transportation operations, the DOT would not have lowered the speed limit “unless we were assured that the city would support and enforce the change.”
“The chief explained to us that the area where the speed limit was being requested to be 25 mph was a dangerous location for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles entering the roadway uncontrolled, including vehicles towing boats,” Gwinn wrote. He also stated the DOT completed a study in 2016 and, while unable to justify a 25-mph speed limit “west of the bridge,” the study justified a lower, 35-mph limit, across the bridge.
According to Gwinn’s email, the DOT also considered the “context of the roadway” to justify lowering the limit to 25 mph.
“We felt that the only way it would work is if the local law enforcement were to strictly enforce the speed limit as signing alone would not likely slow the traffic,” Gwinn wrote, adding Tokajer “was committed to enforcing the 25- mph speed limit as a precondition to the installation.”
Gwinn said another study is not necessary, adding that the DOT is the only agency that can determine the speed limit on a state road.
“We will work with locals and use their input in the process,” Gwinn wrote, adding commissioners “cannot simply vote to change a speed limit on a state road.”
At a Feb. 14 commission meeting, a public majority urged commissioners to return Manatee Avenue to its previous limits.
Some people blamed the chief for the speed-limit change. Key Royale resident Tony Rizzo accused the police department of trying to “persecute us” by setting speed traps.
However, since the speed limit changed from 35 mph to 25 mph less than a month ago, only two speeding tickets were issued, Tokajer said.
Others accused the chief of causing the congestion.
Holmes Beach resident Michael Klotz asked Tokajer to refrain from a “hobby of reducing the speed at his discretion.”
Bradenton resident Frank McAndrews urged commissioners to reinstate 35-mph limits along with “reigning in your police chief.”
In his position as chief, Tokajer also is the traffic engineer and works to identify potential hazards on the roadways.
“The speed limit has nothing to do with the congestion,” Tokajer said. “What I’m tasked with doing is giving my perspective as to the safety of the city and the shared roadways with the bicycles, pedestrians, golf carts, scooters, the rolling roadblock of the trolley.”
Tokajer said the change was made after the DOT took into consideration the characteristics of the entryway to the island as well as his safety concerns.
“It’s my job to make sure that when the people come to the island that my agency does the best we can to keep them safe,” he said.
Johnson said when he and Tokajer made the request to the DOT to study the roadway and consider lowering the speed, they expected the DOT to come back with a study and “full explanation” prior to any changes.
“There was a breakdown in the process,” Johnson said.
“The DOT wasn’t aware of our local process rules.”
Since 2014, traffic entering the island has increased about 2,000 cars on average per day, according to statistics provided by city engineer Lynn Burnett. Tokajer said Holmes Beach is evaluating roadways for a presentation to the city commission, including citywide recommendations for speed, bike paths and safety concerns.
Some commissioners said both the speed limit and the process in which the change was made was problematic.
Commission Vice Chair Jean Peelen wrote to Tokajer in a Feb. 3 email, “Yet again, this was sprung on the residents. There was no public notice, no input. The first residents knew was when the Holmes Beach police were on the side of the road with a radar gun.”
A Feb. 7 email from Commission Chair Judy Titsworth to Johnson read, “there appears to have been a mistake made by you and the chief as this request should have come before the commission.”
Still, Holmes Beach resident Tom Carlson was in favor of the lower speed limits and admitted seeing many “very scary” close calls between motorists, bicycles and pedestrians. In a Feb. 3 email to Tokajer, Carlson wrote the reductions will improve safety while imposing “very minor increases in transit times.”
The time difference (increase) to travel 1 mile at 25 mph rather than 35 mph is 0.7 minutes or slightly less than 41 seconds,” Carlson wrote. “I’m sure to many this may seem like an unacceptable impact on their time, but to me it is an acceptable cost to avoid tragedy.”
Bradenton resident Tricia Dixon said, while she rarely comes to the island, she does not mind the lower speed limit.
“To be honest, I could not have told you what the speed limit is or was,” Dixon said. “I just move with the traffic and enjoy looking at the water if it’s moving a little slow.”
The resolution to reinstate the former limit on Gulf Drive passed 4-1, with Commissioner Pat Morton opposed.
Tokajer had the city’s 25-mph signage that had been added to the state’s signs on Manatee Avenue removed, and he — and motorists — await the DOT crew to change the posted limit to 35 mph.
Gulf Drive returns to 35 mph
The speed limit on Gulf Drive between 43rd Street and 52nd Street is back to 35 mph, according to a Feb. 22 email from Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer.
“Please, remember the school zone in this area during the times the blinking light is on has a speed limit of 15 mph,” Tokajer wrote.
The speed limit was lowered in August 2015 to 25 mph from 43rd Street to 52nd Street on the recommendation of Tokajer.
Residents and commissioners complained in 2015 about the lack of notice for the speed reduction.
Commissioner Judy Titsworth, who said her car wouldn’t go 25 at the Feb. 14 meeting, replied to Tokajer’s announcement: “Woo hoo.”