Beach gateway road to receive study soon
Another Fort Myers Beach gateway road study that some Town officials are calling Survey #33 could yield an improvements plan if project development receives stakeholder agreement.
Florida Department of Transportation’s Carmen Monroy spoke to the downtown ad hoc committee last week about an upcoming study regarding the San Carlos Boulevard corridor. The scope includes the boulevard stretch from Pine Ridge Road over Matanzas Bridge to the yellow blinking light crosswalk adjacent to Times Square on Estero Island, noted as the Beach end of the state right-of-way.
“We will put a heavy emphasis on public involvement from a diverse group of stakeholders. The stakeholders will have to come to a consensus to use this as an opportunity to build a bunch of projects that they can move through the MPO prioritization process in order to get them funded,” said Monroy. “There has to be an agreement of what those solutions will be. It is very difficult to get a project funded if it doesn’t have significant public support.”
The $1.3 million study, which is eligible for federal funding, will look into the improvement of traffic, mobility and bicycle and pedestrian movement within the design corridor. Three consultant firms have been selected and one will be awarded a contract in January for project development engineering from the state DOT program. Work is expected to begin in March.
“This will be a very comprehensive assessment and will look at all of the work done previously. It will look to develop some recommendations on how to address (the issues),” said Monroy. “This study will yield recommendations at the congestion that is leading up to the island.”
While some may balk at another study (there have been 32 conducted for this particular corridor), the state DOT director of the Southwest Area Office stated this one will give a comprehensive approach to solve the issue. Escalated road use of bicyclists and pedestrians will factor heavily.
“One of the first things that MPO had to do for the department was to identify what problems they were trying to solve,” she said. “We’re trying to find the most efficient way of bringing people onto the Beach by accommodating bicycles, pedestrians and a safe operating environment for the vehicles to create economic activities that account for all of the users, visitors and residents.”
Traffic congestion has been “the one and only complaint” from reports by visitor and convention bureaus that regularly promote the island as a destination. Conventional traffic counts have not worked in the past. If the study becomes a project, work could begin within a five-year period if all goes well.
“It’s how the municipalities work together to prioritize the project,” Monroy said.
There will be no quick fix to any work to the roadway approach to the Beach.
“This has to be a very carefully documented analysis based on facts, because when the project is done, I have to have our Federal highway administration that is providing the funding say we did this in accordance with federal standards,” Monroy said.
Discussions also involved a crosswalk at Main Street across the boulevard on San Carlos Island, a second pedestrian sidewalk across the bridge, enhanced transit service and possible tolls to pass over the bridge. Roundabouts -a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic flows almost continuously in one direction around a central island- were also reviewed and will be studied at the Time Square traffic light area and Main Street on the other side of the bridge. These traffic circles were stated to create a continuous flow of traffic and reduce left turns that plague the Beach. They also contain enhanced landscape and architectural features that persuade pedestrians to use crosswalks on both sides of the circle.
“We have a state-wide policy that we look at every intersection for the opportunity to put in a roundabout,” Monroy said. “With every project that we take on, we look at adding bicycle/pedestrian features. We want to make sure the projects that we will build here on Fort Myers Beach will reflect the character and history that the community has.”
Beach Mayor Anita Cereceda pointed out that the Beach is No. 1 as a county bed tax generator and thus leads the economic engine for Lee County.
“We are consequently being considered in these regards with these projects,” she said. “It is a perfect storm for something good to happen.”
The process began with a Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization consensus building study last year. Updates will be provided on www.swflroads.com after study work begins.