ANNA MARIA – The city commission has rejected a proposed roundabout and delivery truck turnaround area at the Pine Avenue/South Bay Boulevard intersection near the City Pier.
Representing the George F. Young engineering firm, Mark Adler presented the requested roundabout plans during a Sept. 12 special city commission meeting.
The commission requested the roundabout plans as part of the ongoing Reimagining Pine Avenue safety improvement efforts. The idea of installing a delivery truck turnaround area near the trolley stop by the pier surfaced earlier this year during discussions that at the time included the possibility of transforming the avenue into a one-way street.
The commission ultimately rejected the one-way concept, but the delivery truck turnaround remained a possibility as a means of discouraging oversized trucks from turning right on South Bay Boulevard and using Spring and Magnolia avenues, which are residential streets, to leave the area.
Mayor Dan Murphy noted the plans that Adler was presenting were based on the commission’s opposition to purchasing any additional land or securing any additional easements to accommodate a roundabout. Murphy said the city leaders also wanted to avoid impacting the city pier pavilions and the City Pier Park property.
Adler said the roundabout designed according to the commissioners’ criteria would accommodate trucks up to 45.5 feet long but would not accommodate 18-wheelers. He said a garbage truck is typically 30 to 40 feet long.
Commissioner Mark Short asked if the city could limit the size of the trucks that travel on Pine Avenue. Murphy said the city could impose a weight limit, but he doubted the city could impose a size limit on delivery trucks. He also noted that prohibiting 18-wheeled delivery trucks could negatively impact many Pine Avenue businesses.
Commissioner Robert Kingan said he couldn’t support a roundabout project that only provides a partial solution to the delivery truck concerns.
“This is not going to fly with me,” he said. “Not as it stands right now.”
Kingan said he wouldn’t support a larger roundabout either.
Commissioner Deanie Sebring said she showed the plans to some of her friends and neighbors and they all opposed the proposed roundabout.
In response to a question from Commissioner Jon Crane, Adler estimated the proposed roundabout would cost between $175,000 and $225,000.
Commission Chair Carol Carter said she envisioned maneuverability problems and she didn’t think the roundabout would be a worthy expenditure of city funds.
Participating by phone, Anna Maria resident Alan Ward said a roundabout in that location might produce additional safety concerns for pedestrians, which Adler acknowledged as a valid concern.
Short said he was disappointed because the proposed roundabout would have allowed the city to recapture some of the city pier parking spaces previously lost to accommodate the trolley stop.
He said he would have liked the city to do more research before abandoning the proposed roundabout, casting the only opposition vote to Kingan’s motion to reject the roundabout plan.
