Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Traffic Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City hears neighborhood concerns after Tenth Street traffic-calming workshop; police plan stepped-up enforcement
Summary
City staff summarized a May 22 traffic-calming workshop for the Tenth Street corridor and surrounding neighborhood; residents asked for trees, crosswalk art, chicanes and more enforcement after speed-trailer data showed high speeds and a peak recorded speed of 58 mph.
City staff presented results of a May 22 traffic-calming workshop focused on Tenth Street and adjoining neighborhood streets, and residents urged immediate and longer-term actions including more enforcement, tree plantings, painted crosswalks and traffic-calming measures.
Development Director Jody Kugler said about 15 residents attended the workshop and 24 written comments were received; the workshop reviewed options including street trees, lane narrowing, chicanes, raised crossings and speed tables. Kugler said participants ranked Tenth Street east of Palm Beach Road as a heavily traveled corridor with high speeds.
Police Chief (identified in the meeting as Chief Zanelovik) described speed-trailer data collected Feb. 13–19. He said the trailer counted roughly 26,481 westbound vehicles and about 21,003 eastbound vehicles during the deployment. The trailer recorded a maximum single speed of 58 miles per hour; during school hours many vehicles exceeded the 20 mph posted school-zone speed. Chief Zanelovik said enforcement so far produced many written warnings and fewer citations and that the department plans to shift toward more aggressive citation enforcement during school drop-off and dismissal periods when the traffic unit is operational.
Public commenters recommended several immediate and low-cost measures: planting street trees for visual narrowing and shade; painting high-visibility crosswalks; installing solar-illuminated crosswalk lighting; adding signs and 4-way stops at key intersections; and studying more intensive roadway changes such as chicanes or curb bump-outs. Resident Jennifer Kadir urged “psychological” changes to driver behavior (painted crosswalks, narrower lane psychology) and asked that multiple services collaborate on a broader neighborhood solution. Joe Longobarte and other residents urged additional stop signs on Flamingo and additional calming on Kruger Parkway and Dolphin Drive.
Commissioners and staff discussed funding. Staff noted parts of the corridor lie inside the CRA and other parts do not; tree-planting programs (including a proposal tied to a half-cent sales tax) are under consideration. Staff said quick actions — stop signs, targeted enforcement and social-media notice of enforcement — can be pursued immediately; longer-term roadway modifications will require design work, neighboring property coordination and funding decisions.
Next steps: staff will compile cost/menu options for Commissioners, provide a design/cost menu for short-term and long-term measures and share the speed-trailer enforcement data; police said they would prioritize enforcement during the school year and consider message-board and social-media outreach.
