TRAFFIC PLAN UNDERWAY

I have spoken with City officials. Our traffic plan has indeed been transferred to Engineering.

The good news is the traffic calming measures for 1st Street North (north of 22nd Ave) are still being handled through the Traffic office. These measures are on the City's TOP SIX PRIORITY LIST. This means we should see steps taken to improve that area very soon.

The improvements on Beach Drive have been delayed because they are grouped with other larger projects within the city. These improvement projects are going out to bid- ie, private contractors will bid for the jobs. This will probably cause a delay of months-
however, the plan is still intact and IS still scheduled to be implemented.

I will be following the progress of these projects and will post any news here. Of course, developments will also be dicussed at board meetings and will be reported at all general membership meetings.

By Jackie

Traffic Plans 1998 news






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Traffic in the Old Northeast - Round II
November 23, 1998
By Timothy J. Baker

Some seven years ago, the North Shore Neighborhood Association wanted the city to install what would now be called "traffic calming" devices at speeding trouble spots throughout the neighborhood.
To quote from the 1991 Neighborhood Plan: "cul-de-sacs, curb necks, diverters and traffic circles, are identified as solutions for directing traffic flow and slowing down traffic speeds."
City traffic engineers, though, balked at taking such measures, and offered one excuse after another why they could not be done.

The St. Petersburg Times in an editorial on Nov. 22 chided the NSNA for "its demands for stop signs to slow traffic along First Street N, Beach Drive and 22nd Avenue."
The editorial was based on incorrect information. The NSNA has never asked for and does not want stop signs on Beach Drive or 22nd Avenue. Neither has it ever "demanded" stop signs on First Street N. Two years ago the association and city officials agreed on a plan that calls for the installation of some stop signs on First Street N between 22nd and 30th.
The plan was put together jointly by the NSNA Traffic Committee and city officials, working together over a period of more than a year.
The city now has new traffic planners who would prefer to take traffic calming measures other than stop signs. No firm proposals have as yet been made and the NSNA has taken no position on these measures.
The NSNA has worked collaboratively with traffic officials for at least the past five years and will continue to do so.

Traffic Plans 1998 news (continu






Five years later came somewhat of a change of heart. No, these traffic calming measures were not accepted, but officials were amenable to stop signs as a means of slowing down traffic on residential streets where the incidence of speeding was just too high.
So, the NSNA adopted a traffic plan that called for stop signs to be added throughout the neighborhood. The plan was approved by city officials, by several votes of the neighborhood association, and by the City Council.
Now, things seem to have come full circle. As they say, it's deja vu all over again.
At the November general membership meeting, city traffic officials presented a variety of ideas for calming traffic on Beach Drive NE, North Shore Drive NE, 22nd Avenue NE and 1st Street N between 22nd and 30th Avenues. The proposals included traffic circles, traffic islands, median strips, raised intersections and neckouts that would narrow driving lanes. None of these ideas was firm enough to be called a proposal. However, in the next few months the officials will be working with the NSNA Traffic Committee to come up with firmer plans.
The street most likely to be considered first is Beach Drive NE. That is scheduled for repaving in the middle of 1999. Ray MacKenzie, who is the neighborhood liaison for the Traffic and Parking Services Dept., said that traffic calming measures would probably be installed as part of the repaving project.
A year ago, the driving lanes on Beach and North Shore were narrowed, the speed limits were reduced, and bike lanes were added. Officials hoped that those measures would be sufficient to slow down traffic. They have not worked well enough, though, according to Mr. MacKenzie and his boss, Angelo Rao, who also attended the November meeting.
Also likely to be considered in the near future is 22nd Avenue NE. One possibility for slowing traffic there would be a traffic circle at 1st Street NE to replace the existing traffic signal.
The most difficult problem politically is perhaps 1st Street N. Almost two years ago, the NSNA membership voted overwhelmingly in favor of Phase II of the Neighborhood Traffic Plan, which called for several stops signs between 22nd and 30th Avenues. The plan was approved by the city administration. Subsequently, the City Council voted twice to approve changing the designation of the street to allow the installation of the signs. (The change in designation was from a "collector" street to a local street.)
Despite all this, the signs have never been installed and at the November meeting Mr. Rao and Mr. MacKenzie both said they thought that the traffic calming measures they were tinkering with would work better than stop signs.
During a question-and-answer session, some neighborhood residents favored the traffic calming approach, while others clearly wanted the city to go forward with the plan that has already been approved and install stop signs.

Re: 1998

The above information is correct but OUTDATED.

In 1996 I participated with other residents of Beach Drive in conducting a door-to-door survey regarding traffic problems on Beach Drive. Each home between 9th Avenue & Coffee Pot on Beach Dr. was contacted. The response rate was 63% and all the data was used to formulate a revised plan with Traffic Engineering.

Over the following two + year period MANY meetings were held by members of the neighborhood, the North Shore traffic committee and the City. Literally hundreds of residents participated during the process. All residents living on or near Beach Drive were again contaced. Later, prior to the final vote, all residents of North Shore were sent a postcard informing them of the final meeting. In the fall of 1999 a final compomise plan was agreed upon at the general meeting, following several large traffic meetings. This is the plan now being implemented.

The first improvements which will be seen are improvements on 1st Street North, north of 22nd Avenue. Later this year, improvements will begin on Beach Drive.

Please read your North Shore Newsletter
for current information.

By Jackie