Clearwater Florida - Skycrest Neighborhood Traffic Calming - Irregularities

On May 18, 2006 at a Clearwater, Florida City Council meeting, Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor Carlen A. Petersen and City Council members Bill Jonson, Hoyt Hamilton and John Doran voted against Clearwater's own traffic engineers' recommendation to install only two roundabouts on E Cleveland Street, not the six in the Skycrest Traffic Calming Plan aka the Skycrest Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan. Instead, they voted for four roundabouts to be installed, at Lake Drive and Saturn, Corona and Aurora avenues.

They voted to take the extra funding from other city projects.

Anyone with any doubts about whether this is a reasonable or appropriate use of taxpayers' dollars has only to take a drive up to Grandview Terrace in the 1600 block of E Ridgewood Street and look at the three minicircles in a row.

Crest Lake Park, at the intersection of Cleveland Street and Lake Drive, should be signalized for traffic to stop, thereby allowing pedestrians, cyclists, children and those with disabilities who use the sidewalk on Lake Drive to access the park. The median planned on Cleveland at Crest Avenue needs a safe path in line with Crest Lake Park's north sidewalk.

Cleveland Street is a collector road with many pedestrians and cyclists. Global experience, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the access board advise that a road like Cleveland Street, with many pedestrians and cyclists, is an inappropriate site for roundabouts.

Install none or the two roundabouts at their recommended locations at Saturn and Corona and see if those conform to city needs. Restudy the other traffic calming features.

Roundabouts are impractical, inconvenient and expensive. Stop signs and traffic lights are a lot less expensive. Roundabouts and circles are removed in many places because of dangerous problems.

Here is information from Clearwater traffic calming engineer Ken Sides' impact study:

"Participants in the Skycrest Traffic Calming Design Charrette attended a three- to four-hour training class at the first session on a Saturday morning, where they became qualified citizen- designers. Applying what they had learned, they worked together to create the Skycrest Traffic Calming Plan at the second session. ... The six roundabouts, medians and all other elements of the project were proposed by the residents themselves, none by city staff or its consultants."

Mayor Hibbard and his council chose to follow people who had three to four hours of classes instead of being guided by our city engineers with decades of experience and expertise. These changes could adversely affect us all and last 20 years and cost many millions. Why is Mayor Hibbard pushing for it while other states and other countries are getting rid of these roundabouts and minicircles.

We do not want to have to pay for Hibbard's Folly.

In 2008, 8 years after the neighborhood petition, which Clearwater politicians claim reached 65% consensus (but only by eliminating many property owners within the boundaries of the plan - actual vote was 48% and many have moved away now leaving those who voted as only 33%) it is now coming up for bid (http://www.clearwater-fl.com/gov/depts/pwa/engin/projects/TC-Skycrest.asp).

Since 2000, there is less need for traffic calming on E. Cleveland St.: City of Clearwater engineers traffic study in 2006 showed that 1500 - 2000 less vehicles per day travel on E. Cleveland St. because of a rerouting of traffic to Gulf to Bay Blvd. to a new beach bridge and because the intersecting Keene Rd. Extension did not bring more traffic as anticipated; also that long light intersection further bisected Cleveland St slowing traffic down.

Volume and Speed of vehicles has already been reduced. To further reduce speed the city leaders have not reduced the speed limit to 25 mph from the current 35 mph.

Some citizens, including one councilmember asked for this logical and simple speed reduction.

Before going to bid, the Skycrest Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan will cost all the taxpayers’ of Clearwater a minimum of $3,000,000.00$. This amount was figured on fuel costing around $2.50 per gallon. What will it cost with fuel costing $4.00 – $7.00 per gallon, upping the costs for concrete, asphalt, other materials, insurance and labor contracts?

City Manager William Horne has threatened to raise taxes or cut Firefighters’ jobs, police, libraries, parks and other important services to shave more than $9.2 million from the budget. - Clearwater Faces Tough Choices to Cut $9M in Budget, St. Petersburg Times, 2/28/2008.

Why consider this unnecessary plan now?