JULY 1, 2017

 

by Reba Siniscalchi, Traffic Committee Chair

 

The BRRA Traffic Committee met on June 16 with NMB Councilwoman Nikki Fontana, City Manager Mike Mahene, Director of Public Safety Jay Fernandez, and City Engineer Kevin Blayton.

There was a brief review of the latest traffic study report numbers, with mentions of the volume of traffic, and the high speeds recorded on some of the roads.There is strong evidence that the majority of the speeders are actually residents of Barefoot, not renters or other locals.

The high volume recorded in May for Resort Bridge Road includes all the traffic and busing for the Monday After The Masters Event.

Safety was again raised as the BRRA largest concern. The speed of traffic near the Residents’ Club, where there are often children and elderly walking and crossing the street is a primary concern. 

Also offered by NMB was the possibility of hiring off-duty peace officers on a part-time basis, and stationing them where reports of heavy traffic with speeding average occurred. We could have one or two officers, hired for a minimum 3 hour period, as often as we want. The expected rate was $25-30/hour. (To hire Public Safety dedicated 24/7 to Barefoot would cost approximately $500,000 per year – due to the need for 3 shifts plus alternates during vacation / sick days, plus equipment and benefits.)

Golf path crossings

Also, the Golf Cart crossings are still a dangerous situation, even though there has been additional signage provided by NMB. The Traffic Committee is looking at cameras, and were told that although NMB cannot ticket anyone based on camera evidence, they are willing to notify violators with a warning.

The difficulty of the Golf Cart crossings brought to light that NMB would be willing to install “California Style” road humps, which have a large table area, in the roads where the crossings are. This would require a formal request from the BRRA, along with paying for this work. 

Another option might be to add flashing or strobe lights at the crossings, triggered by the golfers. The costs mentioned for this were $10,000-12,000.

Also discussed were installing additional “rumble strips” and striping further away from the intersections and stop signs along Barefoot Resort Bridge Road, especially the approach to the Greenbriar Curve, Marsh Glen at the Residents’ Club, the intersections at each neighborhood.  Kevin Blayton will provide us with a cost estimate.

Kevin will also research possible federal funding for a road safety audit since Club Course and Marsh Glen are conduit roads.

Future plans for Water Tower Road

Future plans for Water Tower Road, though still in flux, were shared. NMB thought that there is no chance for Water Tower Rd becoming 4 lanes for the next 10-50 years. However, there may be an extension for Champions Crossing Blvd to extend to Long Bay Road, for access to the Sports Complex.

The new housing community Grand Dunes North will have access to the Grand Dunes bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, directly onto Highway 17. There is also a large residential community being planned for property on Water Tower Road from the Highway 22 Bridge south to Highway 31. Neither is expected to impact our area of Water Tower Rd.