A third public hearing to reimagine Pine Avenue “was the best session we’ve had thus far,” Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said July 20.
In the final session with traffic engineer Gerry Traverso, local officials and residents explored issues related to safety and traffic on Anna Maria’s Pine, Spring and Magnolia avenues, as well as Gulf Drive and South Bay Boulevard.
Anna Maria commissioners in May approved a $50,274 expenditure that paved the way for Traverso to conduct the study in the city’s business district as part of a “Reimagining Pine Avenue” project.
Traverso is vice president of traffic engineering for George F. Young Inc., a St. Petersburg-based engineering and surveying company. He was tasked with offering 4-6 options to improve safety and ease traffic flow on Anna Maria’s busiest roads.
Some concerns may be addressed in his recommendations, expected as soon as mid-August, while enforcement concerns are to be addressed on an ongoing basis.
People parking in no parking zones, golf cart operators who may be too young to drive and bicyclists failing to obey traffic laws are among the issues Traverso said need to be addressed by enforcement.
At the July 20 hearing, Manatee County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brett Getman, who heads up the Anna Maria substation, asked people at the July 20 hearing if they notified law enforcement officials of safety concerns. All indicated they had not by shaking their heads or muttering “no.”
“If you see something, say something,” Getman suggested because law enforcement cannot be everywhere at once and needs the public to report incidents and concerns to authorities, “not on social media.”
Another concern raised at each hearing involved the prospect of reimagining Pine Avenue into a one-way road.
Traverso had mentioned the one-way option when he outlined for commissioners the project’s scope of work and solutions successful in other cities.
But the engineer assured attendees July 20 that he had yet to formalize his recommendations and the hearings, along with one-on-one meetings with business owners, would provide information to consider along with the data.
One attendee at the July 20 hearing, Anna Maria resident and businessman Mike Coleman, discussed the reimagining of Pine Avenue over the years.
He was part of a team of contributors when Pine Avenue was designed by a leading “walkable community” specialist to incorporate sand-shell walkways that meander from block to block, pushing pedestrians farther from the road to the area between parked vehicles and businesses.
Then, he said, the idea was that older people wanted a pedestrian-friendly Pine Avenue, where they could park and walk rather than move from parking space to parking space.
Now, the island’s visitors trend younger and the vacationers are in larger groups. They aren’t meandering. They’re walking in the roadway, creating safety concerns and chaos.
Janalee Gallagher, who owns AMI Beach & Dog Supply, 313 Pine Ave., said July 20 she never sees people using the walkways — she sees them in the street, between the parked cars and the roadway.
A “radical idea,” Coleman said, would involve eliminating motor vehicle traffic except for golf carts on Pine Avenue.
Other concerns aired during the hearing included the need for designated lanes and delivery trucks blocking traffic lanes.
Holmes Beach resident Nancy Deal cited concern for the lack of multiuse lanes for cyclists, especially in the 9700 block of Gulf Drive, where a multiuse lane ends, the business district begins and motorists jockey for parking.
Deal said there is nowhere safe for bicyclists to ride on Gulf Drive north of Slim’s Place or on Pine Avenue.
A suggestion to ease congestion caused by delivery trucks was to limit delivery hours to early mornings, alleviating a concern for at least one Pine Avenue business owner.
Yetta Levitt, owner of Anna Maria Island Outfitters, 401 Pine Ave., said deliveries during non-business hours could result in stolen packages or damaged inventory.
Coleman suggested limiting truck deliveries to restaurants but not restricting package drop-offs.
What might Traverso recommend?
When he was contracted in May, a July 22 date was tentatively marked to present his options.
But severe weather and a personal emergency delayed Traverso’s preparations and the new estimated date for his presentation, as The Islander went to press, is Aug. 17.