HOLMES BEACH – Anyone driving through the largest Anna Maria Island city knows that drivers need more patience than usual to make it through the traffic congestion snaking through the center of the community.
With increased traffic due to the start of the winter tourism season and two roadway projects, travel time delays aren’t expected to decrease until at least the end of December.
The issues stem from the start of a long-planned city center roadway renovation project at the intersection of Marina and Gulf drives along with work from a Manatee County utilities project.
The city center renovations include the addition of sidewalks, crosswalks, green space and lighting through the intersection as well as improvements to bicycle and vehicular travel lanes. To accommodate the work currently being done down Marina Drive from the Gulf Drive intersection to just past the Island Branch Library, that section of the road is closed with traffic diverted down Holmes Boulevard and the coastal section of Gulf Drive. Ongoing work includes the installation of concrete curbing and sidewalks, infiltration trenches and new drainage structures as well as regrading and repaving the street.
City Engineer Sage Kamiya said that the work on Marina Drive is scheduled to be mostly completed by the end of December with traffic lanes reopened as work allows. Once work is completed on Marina Drive, additional work will need to be done on Gulf Drive.
Addressing the somewhat controversial four-way stop temporarily installed at the intersection of Gulf Drive and Holmes Boulevard, Kamiya and Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer released a joint statement on Nov. 4 on Facebook stating that they believe the four-way stop is still the best traffic control method for the area.
The statement said they looked into the installation of a temporary traffic light and putting a police officer at the intersection to direct traffic as alternatives. Using a police officer to direct traffic was dismissed because the intersection is too narrow to allow for an officer to safely direct two-way traffic and reducing traffic to one lane would cause more traffic delays. Cost also was a factor as that solution would require a full-time police officer to be onsite at the intersection.
A temporary traffic light was also dismissed due to not being considered as effective in moving traffic as the four-way stop.
Adding to drivers’ woes is an ongoing potable water project by Manatee County which was supposed to be completed prior to the start of the city center project. Instead, both projects are continuing simultaneously with the county project first disrupting traffic along Holmes Boulevard and then blocking off a section of 52nd Street the week of Nov. 7, which kept traffic along that street limited for most of the week.
