ANNA MARIA – City commissioners have approved the conceptual plans for the new sidewalks and crosswalks to be installed or modified as part of the Reimagining Pine Avenue project.
Mayor Dan Murphy and contracted traffic engineer Gerry Traverso presented the conceptual plans to the commission on Feb. 10.
Brick paver sidewalks will be installed along the entire length of both sides of Pine Avenue. Where applicable, the paver sidewalks will follow the existing footprint of the meandering paths located in front of some of the businesses on both sides of the street.
Made of permeable pavers that allow water to drain through them, the new sidewalks will be constructed over underground infiltration trenches and other drainage elements.
During Thursday’s meeting, there was some debate as to whether the new sidewalks should all be 5 feet wide or be 6 feet wide in areas where the extra width can be accommodated.
Commissioner Deanie Sebring lobbied for 6-foot sidewalks. For the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, she also again expressed her support for eliminating more than 50 existing parallel parking spaces along Pine Avenue. No final decisions regarding the potential elimination of those spaces and/or the addition of buffered bike paths will be made until the other improvements are made.
Commissioners Jon Crane, Carol Carter and Robert Kingan were also in favor of installing 6-foot sidewalks where possible.
Commissioner Mark Short opposed the wider sidewalks and noted that the extra foot needed on both sides of Pine Avenue to accommodate the wider sidewalks would reduce the 50-foot-wide project area to 48 feet. He said he would hate to lose those extra 2 feet that might be needed later.
Traverso said 6-foot-wide sidewalks would be challenging in some areas already constricted by fire hydrants, drainage components and other obstructions. He said approximately 30% of the project area could accommodate 6-foot sidewalks, and that the meandering path areas would be the best places to include them. The commission ultimately reached a 4-1 consensus to install 6-foot-wide sidewalks wherever possible, with Short remaining in opposition.
Crosswalk improvements
The commission supported Traverso’s recommendation to install a new raised crosswalk with embedded flashing beacons across Pine Avenue near The Donut Experiment and Poppo’s Taqueria. That location was chosen because there is currently no mid-block crosswalk in that vicinity, which has a high volume of uncontrolled pedestrian crossings.
The existing crosswalk near the Roser Memorial Community Church will be replaced with a raised crosswalk that also features embedded flashing beacons. A third raised crosswalk with flashing beacons will also be installed at some point between North Shore and North Bay Boulevard across Pine Avenue and the existing crosswalks will also be improved without being raised. Traverso said raised crosswalks are not needed at the existing four-way intersections and Murphy said there are currently no plans to create any additional four-way stops.
As a result of Thursday’s discussions, a request for proposals will be issued seeking responses from construction firms interested in installing the new sidewalks and crosswalks.
Traverso also briefly presented some additional streetlighting recommendations but the commission agreed to postpone the street lighting discussion for a future meeting.
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