SummaryTransportation, Utilities and Public Safety Study CirclesOverview Study Circle Groups were held on three separate occasions to discuss issues, potential solutions and to reach a common ground of understanding regarding transportation, utilities and public safety concerns of the Davis Islands Community. Two of the study sessions were attended by planning and technical staff from either the City of Tampa or Hillsborough County to assist in the discussion and educational process. The average attendance was approximately 8 community members per session.  Figure 1 Many issues were introduced and a variety of potential solutions were discussed. A common tread of concern was present during all discussions and that was the speeding of motor vehicles on many streets of Davis Islands. Speeding was addressed as being the primary issue negatively effecting pedestrian safety, quality of life, community character, and public safety. Other issues discussed included congested parking areas around the village, Ball Park and during certain localized events, the inefficiency of public transit, lack of bike lanes and designated pedestrian access areas. Each session provided an opportunity to more closely understand the complexities of the issues and also the challenges of providing effective solutions. Progress was made in determining options for solutions and methods to bring the issues discussed forward to the public for additional consensus building. Session Review The initial session was held on September 24, 2002 and included a presentation from the City of Tampa Transportation Department regarding traffic calming study procedures and methods for improvements. The staff of the City discussed the many requirements to confirm that speeding is an actual issue at the particular locations. Initially, a detailed accounting of the speeds of vehicles is required over a period of time. In order to substantiate a speeding problem, the vehicles exceeding the speed limit must exceed 85 % of the overall vehicular use of the roadway. Once this is confirmed by actual counts, the interconnecting roadways must also be studied to assure that any improvements implemented will not negatively affect the overall system. The time frame for this process can get quite lengthy due to the number of requests the City staff must review. Once the site is confirmed as a problem area, it must also be prioritized for implementation since there are so many locations requiring improvements. The City currently has over 800 locations that have been established as problem areas and a need for improvements has been confirmed. The City staff also discussed the improvements that were implemented on Davis Islands along East Davis Boulevard through the Village. These improvements were implemented some time ago and consist of the brick paver intersections, bulb outs for pedestrians at crosswalk locations and diagonal parking. The City’s assessment of this project is that it was a success and no further improvements are required. They have completed post project implementation studies which show that the speeds of vehicles have been reduced. This was in conflict with the perceptions of the Study Circle and the documented comments from the DI Community at large at the June 5th Kick-off meeting. The feeling of the Study Circle and the community is that the pedestrians using the Village should have priority and that additional traffic calming elements and/or pedestrian enhancements are required. The Civic Association has requested placing stop signs at the connecting streets north and south of the Village to have a traffic calming affect. This has been met with resistance from the City for several reasons:
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