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Committee backs FDOT resurfacing while planning separate reconstructed protected bike lane on Collins Avenue
Summary
City transportation staff told the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee that Florida Department of Transportation(FDOT) will proceed with a resurfacing project on Collins Avenue; the city will pursue a separate, more complex reconstruction to add a protected bike lane and repaired sidewalks.
The Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee on May (committee meeting) agreed to support FDOTresurfacing work on Collins Avenue while pursuing a separate reconstruction project to add a protected bicycle lane and repair sidewalks.
The resurfacing work will improve the roadway, repair cracked sidewalks and upgrade ADA curbs and drainage, Transportation Director Jose Gonzales said. Gonzales told the committee a protected bike lane would be achievable only by reconstructing portions of the corridor, not by the narrower resurfacing scope FDOT now funds.
"They did a very high level analysis of the corridor and believe that, you know, it is doable. It would, however, require a whole different project, a whole different scope. It's a reconstruction project versus what they are proposing to move forward with, which is a resurfacing," Gonzales said.
Committee Vice Chair Commissioner Alex Fernandez said the protected lane is intended to close a long-standing gap in the city's bicycle network north of 60th Street and connect existing multimodal segments in North Beach.
City staff and FDOT plan a community meeting June 4 to present options and gather public feedback; committee members directed staff to send a resolution to the city commission recommending support for FDOT's resurfacing project and to return to committee after the June 4 meeting with findings about long-term reconstruction and bike-lane implementation.
Gonzales said the reconstruction alternative would permit a roughly 7-foot protected bike lane and allow the city to replace badly cracked sidewalks and address drainage and curb/gutter problems, but it would be more complex and expensive than FDOT's current budgeted resurfacing project.
The committee explicitly kept the item in committee to track both the immediate FDOT resurfacing and the parallel planning effort for a future protected-bike-lane reconstruction. A June city-commission resolution will direct FDOT to proceed with resurfacing while the city pursues the reconstruction option.
