“Lookout!”
“Stop!”
People, among them Nancy Deal of Holmes Beach, sometimes shout such warnings to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians from the sidewalk seating outside Ginny’s and Jane E’s Coastal Store and Cafe, 9807 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria.
Many mornings, Deal and husband Mike take an outside seat at the cafe to savor morning coffee and connect with other islanders.
Sometimes — often, according to Deal — they witness mishaps, moving violations and near calamities at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Gulf Drive.
Motorists don’t always brake for the four-way stop, Deal told the Island Transportation Planning Organization, which met Jan. 8 at Anna Maria City Hall.
They don’t even always stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks, she added.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy, who chairs the advisory committee to the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, was about to gavel the meeting closed after 14 minutes when he recognized Deal, who spoke during public comment about stop signs, golf carts and “guardian angels.”
Deal said guardian angels must be at work on AMI because “close calls are just too numerous to document.”
She said motorists cruise through the Anna Maria intersection without stopping, sometimes looking at their smartphones, sometimes looking for parking and sometimes talking with passengers.
She’s also seen people on the backend of low-speed vehicles pulling kids in strollers, unbelted passengers tumbling from LSVs, double the riders on an LSV built for six and more.
“It occurs all over the island,” Deal told the ITPO, asking what solutions law enforcement agencies, the MPO, the DOT or the tourist development council might propose.
And she invited those at the dais, which included representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation and the MPO, to join her for coffee.
“Come sit at Ginny’s just for a couple of hours in the morning,” Deal suggested.
The ITPO took no action regarding Deal’s remarks, but the meeting included an MPO notice of ongoing work to address road safety in the region.
The MPO staff is working on safety targets and aiming to reduce the number of transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries to zero a year.
The MPO board needs to adopt safety targets for the region by late February and may vote on them at its next meeting, set for Monday, Jan. 29, in Venice.
In other ITPO business, members asked for an update at the next meeting on plans for a project, development and environment study on a proposed complete streets project in Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach, as well as a review of sign locations for the merge-lane on Manatee Avenue east of the Palma Sola Causeway.
Holmes Beach Commissioner Dan Diggins said a DOT employee told him the mainland Manatee Avenue signs are in the wrong location and, if relocated, people might make better use of the lane, reducing “some of the road rage out there.”
The ITPO’s next meeting will be at 2 p.m. Monday, March 11, at Anna Maria City Hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
About the MPO
MPOs, regional transportation planning entities, are established by state and federal laws and interlocal agreements to provide a process for governments within the region to coordinate with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.
The Sarasota/Manatee MPO is governed by a 17-member apportioned board of elected officials.
The island cities are represented by the chair of the Island Transportation Planning Organization, currently Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy.
For more information, go online to mympo.org.