FDOT considers St. Armands speed tables

The Florida Department of Transportation could install temporary speed tables around St. Armands Circle to test the efficacy of the traffic calming measure.

By David Conway
| 6:00 a.m. August 16, 2018

Officials are interested in seeing whether speed tables are an effective tool for getting drivers in St. Armands Circle to slow down.

Sarasota
News

As the city and state discuss the possibility of adding temporary speed tables near St. Armands Circle crosswalks, the St. Armands Business Improvement District is conflicted about the idea.

On Tuesday, the BID agreed to discuss the concept of installing the traffic-calming devices with City Engineer Alex DavisShaw at a meeting next month. But the two board members present expressed skepticism the proposal would address the most pressing traffic-related concerns in the commercial district.

“I don’t think speed tables are the solution,” BID board member Geoffrey Michel said.

Diana Corrigan, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, said the removable speed tables would be installed as a test to see if they would mitigate one specific problem in the area. She said Circle stakeholders met with the Florida Department of Transportation in late 2016 after a driver struck a pedestrian on North Boulevard of the Presidents near Madison Drive.

The goal, she said, was to get drivers to slow down as they exited St. Armands Circle.

“Once people get to that point, once they come around Columbia (Restaurant), that becomes the Longboat speedway,” Corrigan said.

BID Chairman Gavin Meshad had some misgivings about whether speed tables are the most effective solution, but he expressed a desire to explore whatever options the state is willing to consider. Other than a 2016 trial period during which crossing guards were stationed at Circle intersections, Meshad said it’s been difficult to move forward on any traffic improvements.

Other than a trial period of stationing crossing guards at Circle crosswalks, St. Armands stakeholders said it has been difficult getting the state to undertake traffic improvements in the area.

“I hate to say it this way: I’ve been on this board so long, I’d take anything I can get,” Meshad said. “If they’re gonna throw me a crumb and try speed tables — I hate the looks of them, but if they’re going to put them in to test it, and it can slow traffic down and help safety a little bit, then maybe it would be a precursor to something more substantive.”

Other items

Also discussed at Tuesday’s St. Armands BID meeting:

Sarasota Parking Manager Mark Lyons said construction of a parking garage on North Adams Drive remains on schedule for a mid-December opening. Lyons said the construction will soon require the closure of the sidewalk on Madison Drive near the project site, though he was not certain when the closure would take place.
The board said the City Commission is scheduled to discuss the city’s parking policies at an Oct. 4 meeting. Previously, St. Armands stakeholders have expressed concern about the implementation of a paid parking program on the Circle, which is set to take place once the garage opens. Merchants have worried St. Armands businesses will be negatively affected if the Circle is the only place where visitors have to pay to park.
The board approved the hiring of Brandy Wiesner as the operations manager of the St. Armands BID. The part-time position is designed to help the board in a logistical role. Pending a background check and formal offer from the city, Wiesner is scheduled to begin work Sept. 12.

Michel said he hoped the state would be willing to consider a different addition to St. Armands: signalized crosswalks. He thought pedestrian signals would reduce traffic delays associated with people walking across the street.

Corrigan said FDOT has previously indicated it does not have the funding for signalized crosswalks in the area. If the BID ultimately approves the temporary speed tables, FDOT would fund the trial installation. The board was unclear where funding would come from if the city wanted to add permanent speed tables.

The board is scheduled to discuss possible speed table locations and project timing with DavisShaw in September. Based on the conversation at Tuesday’s meeting, the BID is interested in at least evaluating the idea.

“I would support it, just because something’s more than nothing,” Meshad said.