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Consultant recommends sidewalks, parking and traffic-calming to support Golden Gate build grant application
Summary
Wen Dang of DDEC presented findings July 28 from the Golden Gate Neighborhood Improvements study, describing data-driven recommendations for sidewalks, parking, drainage and traffic calming and noting the project will be presented to the NAC Aug. 4 as a build-grant candidate.
Wen Dang, principal at consultant firm DDEC, told the Martin County CRA July 28 that the Golden Gate Neighborhood Improvements study is data-driven and intended to support a future BUILD/RAISE-style grant application.
Dang said the study combined demographic analysis, traffic and crash data, field observations and parking counts. She reported pedestrian fatalities within the neighborhood and said the analysis identified sidewalk gaps, insufficient curb ramps and ADA noncompliance at several locations. "The first thing we do as humans is we walk," Dang said, describing walkability as a priority for the plan.
The consultant validated parking demand with daytime, nighttime and weekend counts and produced a heat map showing concentrations of on-street and overflow parking; Dang said additional parking pockets are needed, in some cases on dead-end streets east of the main corridor. She said many neighborhood streets use open drainage swales; to create space for continuous sidewalks the county may need to shift some areas from open ditches to closed-pipe drainage.
Dang described transit and bus-stop differences in the area, noting one shelter meets ADA standards while many stops are little more than a sign in the ground. She said crash analysis used 10 years of crash data and FHWA countermeasure guidance to identify appropriate engineering and signage changes. Proposed countermeasures under study include speed tables and roundabouts where geometry allows, plus targeted sidewalk infills, lighting upgrades at intersections and coordinated drainage design.
Dang said the plan will be presented to the neighborhood advisory committee on August 4 and that the existing El Camino Trail construction could help provide matching funds in a competitive BUILD/RAISE application. She said grant opportunities are competitive and that West Palm Beach recently won a multimillion-dollar award for a similar neighborhood project.
The consultant said the next deliverable will include typical sections, 30% design plans and cost estimates to document feasibility and support multiple grant and funding sources.
