FDOT Presentation of Alton Road Redevelopment Program raises great conceern

FDOT Alton Road Redevelopment
Public Information / Input Meetings 

Scheduled and Confirmed:
FDOT Public Information Meeting
Thursday, June 23, 2011, 7 to 9 pm
Miami Beach PAL -- 999 Eleventh Street
Flamingo Park, Miami Beach

*Tentatively Scheduled

Planning Board Presentation*
Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 1:30 pm
City Commission Chambers

Presentation to the City Commission*
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

REPORT FROM BEN BATCHELDER
on previous presentation held on Wed, June 8th

Hi FPNers,


I just wanted to give my quick read of FDOT’s presentation on Alton Road last Wednesday at the Commission chambers.
Meeting Notes

First, Denis very helpfully provided a printout of FPNA’s priorities, including a nice visual of a bike boulevard going down Alton.


1) Among FPNers, Denis spoke first, gently pressing the FDOT presenter on the bike lane issue, as he had apparently never heard of a bike boulevard before. Denis also supported reducing the speed limit from 35 to 30 and raised the possibility (seconded later by our City Manager) of upgrading the area to a Livable Community, which apparently could facilitate achieving a number of these goals. Over a half dozen public comments subsequently demonstrated how crazy bike lanes on Alton would be: no sane biker would use them, all European experience and research shows bike lanes between parked cars and moving traffic to be the most dangerous (contradicting the speaker’s assertion bike lanes are the safest solution), having bikes compete with buses every other bus-stop block is ludicrous, and so on. When the concept of bike boulevard was made clear to the presenter, he asserted that it would take too many curves (perhaps he thinks it has to follow the curb line) and due to bicyclists crossing in/near pedestrian crosswalks, particularly against traffic, be a hazard to turning cars.


2) Another subject which elicited public outrage was the fact that FDOT plans to cut 113 trees and presently has no idea how many will be planted according to spec. A landscape architect, who worked on Wash. Ave’s upgrade, pointed out that due to required ‘cone of vision’ studies very few shade trees are likely (he mentioned perhaps only one per block).


3) The next FPNer to speak was Adam, who probed FDOT on their assertion new laws ‘require’ bike lanes, rather than ‘mandate consideration.’ The incomplete reply was, besides reiterating that a bike frequency study supported bike lanes, that the more space available there is available for bike lanes, the more required they are. Adam also lamented the loss of 90+ parking spaces. He then expressed the room’s growing feeling: if the proposed design is so contrary to residents’ wishes, why bother wasting $20+ million on it? FDOT asserted that due to the storm drain work (Alton at 5th, 10th and 14th) slated for 4/2013, the surface design must be completed prior – which the landscape architect contradicted.


4) My questions centered on pedestrian safety, after I introduced myself as a member of a local neighborhood association that is working on a pedestrian safety initiative and commented that Alton Rd. is generally considered South Beach’s most dangerous road for pedestrians. As the presentation lacked any detail on each intersection’s treatment, I asked a) would all intersections receive pedestrian crosswalk stripes, and b) would all have on-demand pedestrian signals? Contradicting in their own Project Notification fact sheet which promises "installing bush button countdown signals at all intersections along project limits", FDOT replied that the first was impossible (fast cars vs. pedestrians’ right of way) and that a 2008 warrant study did not justify any other pedestrian crossings. At this point the French Urban Design professor (whom Denis had introduced me to) went ballistic, suggesting that FDOT should stop the presentation it was so pathetic. When a break allowed me to return to my questioning, I respectfully requested that FDOT perform a new pedestrian study, having already highlighted the 75% increase in auto on pedestrian accidents in South Beach. When the presenter couldn’t commit, I implied that without reconsidering such a pedestrian-unfriendly design, pedestrian accidents will only increase. (Although I had it with me, I resisted showing a chart which ranks Florida as the worst state in the nation in pedestrian fatalities, or faulting FDOT’s irrational warrant process for some of the responsibility.)

Tentative Conclusions

A) It appears as if the Livable Communities designation is the only way to meaningfully impact FDOT’s design. It was suggested that it would facilitate narrower lanes (from 11' to 10' at least), the speed limit reduction, and reduce the ‘cone of vision’ problems. My feeling is that FDOT performs studies when it believes they will support their preferred design.


B) FDOT’s design appears based on such outdated standards and is so car-centric that any project delay should be encouraged. The landscape architect’s suggestion to allow storm drain work to be done independently of surface design agreement appears compelling.

C) Lastly, Adam’s suggestion that the $20+ million project be cancelled (just repave, repaint, and leave street layout as is) would be a less bad solution than the current 60% design and, if need be, I’d gladly support that outcome with organized civil disobedience.

It will be very important to attend subsequent FDOT presentations.