Transportation, Utilities and Public Safety Study Circle
Minutes of Meeting, October 22, 2002
Moderator: Jeffrey Siewert
Introductions were made. Terry Cullen and Rose Petrucha from the Hillsborough County Planning Commission were present to aid in the process. Our instructions were to make suggestions to take back to the community-wide meeting in March 2003. We are not to try to solve any issues now, but review the suggestions, their pros and cons, and then ask the community what they feel is the best option for that issue at the general meeting in March.
Jeffrey gave an overview of the first meeting on September 24th and then discussion of issues followed. Some topics are found under more than one issue.
Issues discussed
1. Pedestrian Safety
2. Parking
3. Speeding
4. Bicycles
5. Public Transportation
Pedestrian Safety
Overall concerns are Safety, Convenience and Accessibility
1. Walking in the business district
2. Walking in the street on Channel/South Davis/Severn to DIYC
3. Future Channel-side walk from HCC to POK Airport?
4. Main bridge and Adalia intersection
5. Ball field on Columbia
· Inability to see when vehicles parked on both sides of the street
· Possibility of having Columbia 1-way there?
6. Certain residential streets that are cut through streets
7. How do we get people to use bikes, walk, etc further on the Islands, (Not related to specific exercise)?
8. Appropriate signage
· How do we enforce pedestrian safety laws?
Parking
1. Business district
2. Ball field
3. DI Baptist Church
4. Seaborn School
Speeding
1. Main bridge/Adalia
2. Pedestrians walking in the streets
3. Pedestrians in the business district
4. Vehicles in the business district
5. No sidewalks on main bridge onto Islands
6. Highest speed roads may not have sidewalks along the entire length
7. Lack of shade trees over some sidewalks reduces walkability
8. Channel has sidewalks but people still walk in the street
9. Connectivity to Bayshore Blvd.
10. Line of sight issues on bridges/Adalia
11. People fishing on the bridges
12. Certain residential streets that are cut through streets
Bicycles
1. Possible bike lanes on wider streets
2. Any traffic calming would help with bike safety
3. Speed limit of 25 mph
4. Education
· Bike safety and laws
· For vehicle drivers as well
5. Promote “Child Friendly Community”
6. Signage; “Bicycles Sharing Roadway”
Public Transportation
1. Curb rights
· Availability of stops decided by the community
· Secure control of your community
2. Airport/NASA/SATS have future plans which may affect our community
3. Public transportation, (Are we getting our money’s worth?)
· Frequency of buses
· Dial a bus service, private or public
· May use when regular bus is underutilized.
4. Lack of bus shelters
5. Possibility to design own system in 2nd year.
General Information
Terry explained the issue of “authority”. For a particular area, the authority over the land, etc. may be with several different agencies. For example; City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, Airport Authority, Port Authority…etc. may all have jurisdiction over one area that is being planned. They all have to be taken into consideration and included in the plan.
Also, if revenue isn’t forthcoming for a project, other ways may be investigated, including; but not limited to, grants, taxes and/or paying for the project by the Island residents.
Next Steps
There are two meetings left, 11/5/02 and 11/19/02. During those meetings we are to prioritize the suggestions, brainstorm options and discuss the pros and cons of each..
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