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10/30/2000CLEARWATER BEACH ENTRYWAY ADVISORY COMMITTEE CITY OF CLEARWATER October 30, 2000 Present: Commissioner Ed Hart Facilitator/Non Voting Chair Lucile Casey Committee Member Hoyt Hamilton Committee Member David Hemerick Committee Member Arthur Lupien Committee Member Dan Moran Committee Member Roger Schulman Committee Member Carl Wagenfohr Committee Member Bob Bickerstaffe Alternate Bill Jonson Alternate Absent: Herb Brown Committee Member Bruce Littler Committee Member Also present: Mahshid Arasteh Public Works Administrator Paul Bertels Traffic Operations Manager Lt. John Slack Police Department - departed 5:17 p.m. Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. at City Hall. ITEM #1 – Approval of Minutes Member Moran moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of October 16, 2000, as submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #2 – Old Business In response to a committee request, Traffic Operations Manager Paul Bertels submitted the weekly summary for February 8, 1997, listing the hourly traffic counts for Poinsettia before the roundabout was constructed. Lt. John Slack said the Police Department in September had received 3 calls on roundabout accidents but issued no reports and in October received 19 calls and issued 6 reports. Since the roundabout opened, only one injury has been reported. It was requested the spreadsheet be modified to reflect funds spent to date on tweaking the roundabout. Public Works Administrator Mahshid Arasteh said staff is awaiting a report on eliminating water from the fountain onto roundabout traffic lanes. ITEM #3 – Final Review of Questions Presented Discussion ensued regarding questions to ask Barry Crown. ITEM #4 – Conference call with Barry Crown In response to a question, Mr. Crown said an example of small changes resulting in a large benefit would be new striping, which was inexpensive but reduced accidents. He said widening the radius at the Coronado entry from 10 to 12 feet will increase capacity and safety. He said the roundabout’s original design had narrow lanes and small entry and exit radii to severely control traffic speeds and improve the safety of large volumes of pedestrians. Problems resulted when traffic volumes were higher than anticipated. He said his proposal to widen access points will allow large trucks to maneuver, except to the Marina. He said widening the causeway approach east of East Shore would be very expensive and not very helpful. Mr. Crown said adding a third lane for north beach destinations would be expensive, rarely used, and of little benefit. Northbound vehicles already can exit at East Shore. He said the geometry of proposed changes to access points will increase capacity on the causeway by 55%, on Mandalay by 44%, and on Coronado by 38%. He said his predictions are based on the Rodel modeling program, developed in the UK (United Kingdom). He said the program, costing more than $11-million to develop, is extremely accurate. He will forward his computations to staff and a copy of the modeling program results. He said the aaSIDRA program is based on the gap theory and does not properly measure the geometry or capacity of roundabouts. In response to a question, Mr. Crown said the proposed alignment for Mandalay complies with standards and is designed to control the speed of vehicles entering the roundabout. He said without access points at Poinsettia and the Marina, the roundabout could have been circular in shape and comply with the American guide. He said drivers checking roundabout traffic when entering from Mandalay will turn their heads to an angle similar to when entering a “T” intersection. He said his recommended changes will increase capacity of traffic egressing from Mandalay and decrease delays. He said an increase of 3 to 5 miles per hour is not enough speed to endanger pedestrians. The farther a crosswalk is from the roundabout, the more space traffic has to increase speed before reaching it. Staff will need to monitor the situation. Concern was expressed the proposed changes will endanger pedestrians. It is important for vehicles to be aware of pedestrians, and visa versa. In response to a question, Mr. Crown said the proposal to remove the lower two steps of the fountain would reduce the “canyon” affect, but its $125,000 cost may not provide value. The fountain currently does not affect visibility nor necessary sight lines. He suggested moving only the lower step would help some and move the fountain 6 inches farther from traffic lanes. He agreed changes to the fountain should be delayed until all other recommended changes are tried. Mr. Crown said enlarging the roundabout to the size of one in Vail, Colorado would be extremely expensive, requiring all access points to be redesigned and the vault to be moved. He said the only benefit would be to move the road away from the fountain. He said it would be less expensive to modify the fountain. He said widening circulating roads would cause more accidents. He said the intensity of traffic traveling through the Vail roundabout is much less than in Clearwater. He said while most in the UK are not striped, the City’s roundabout requires striping. He said bad striping causes accidents. He said the roundabout’s geometry and striping are interrelated. He said problems at Coronado are due to geometry. Once that is repaired, the striping will be redone. Concern was expressed use of the access points differ, making it difficult to educate drivers on using the roundabout. Mr. Crown said differences relate to volume requirements for 2-lane entries and exits on Mandalay, Coronado, and the Causeway. The Marina only needs one lane. He said traffic volumes are too great on Mandalay to narrow its access to one lane. Mr. Crown reviewed his recommendations to remove the traffic signal at Coronado and Gulfview, indicating traffic movement improvement will reduce backups into the roundabout. He stated another option would be to reduce private vehicle access to Clearwater beach and provide alternative transportation. He felt that option would discourage tourism. In response to a question related to yielding requirements, Mr. Crown said traffic circulating through the roundabout has the right of way. He said accidents occur when vehicles move side by side. Discussion ensued regarding driver courtesy and which driver is at fault after an accident. It was suggested the yield sign off Mandalay should indicate its warning refers to both lanes of roundabout traffic. Mr. Crown said instructors who teach drivers to stay in the outside lane are wrong. It was suggested a radio signal could instruct drivers on correct roundabout movement. Concern was expressed installing a crosswalk across the causeway in front of the Marina would be dangerous. The recommendation is for a traffic signal to be long enough to cross halfway to the median. Doubt was expressed that pedestrians would wait safely on the median for the traffic signal to change again and instead would cross during a gap in traffic. Mr. Crown said the median would be widened. It was suggested pedestrians be directed to the walkway under bridge 43. Mr. Crown felt pedestrians would not walk from the Marina or Poinsettia to the bridge to cross the causeway. Staff estimated 1,000 pedestrians a day crossed the causeway during last year’s Spring Break. It was suggested stronger enforcement would help. Mr. Crown noted the difficulty of redirecting pedestrian movement. Mr. Crown said the illumination of the roundabout after dark is not good when the fountain lights are off. He recommended the City increase lighting to meet standards in the federal highway guide. Related costs have not been estimated. It was suggested the committee work to create realistic expectations. ITEM #5 – New Business The Chair indicated the committee had adopted rules that members who miss three consecutive meetings can be removed from the committee. He said Member Brown had missed three successive meetings. Member Casey will miss three meetings in a row in November. She has suggested she could participate via a conference telephone call. She said when she agreed to serve on the committee, it had been indicated that weekly meetings would not extend into November. It was suggested either the rule be waived or enforced. The Chair will contact Member Brown regarding his plans. The committee will discuss this issue further on November 6, 2000. Staff will consult the City Attorney regarding a conference telephone call being allowed. Cost estimates for changes to the roundabout recommended by Mr. Crown will be available on November 10, 2000. Staff will not make recommendations until that time. A limited time is available to complete changes prior to Spring Break. Lt. Slack said the Police Department could handle Spring Break without the changes in place if overtime costs can be covered. Ms. Arasteh said even with related construction interference last year, the movement of Spring Break traffic had improved over previous years. ITEM #6 – Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for November 6, 2000, at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 5:42 p.m.