FDOT State Road 211 resurfacing – Public Comment Deadline is Soon!

The Florida Department of Transportation is planning to resurface State Road 211 (San Juan Avenue to I-95) at a cost of $15 million, expected to start in summer 2024. In addition to milling and resurfacing, improvements include the addition of a shared use lane markings, sidewalk upgrades, signage, and lighting upgrades. Read more about the project on the FDOT website. If you missed the meeting, we took notes and made a summary. 

 

The Riverside Avondale Preservation Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has reviewed the preliminary plans and put together a list of suggestions to improve the project. As currently proposed, this project is incompatible with our neighborhood which welcomes walkable, safe, tree-lined streets and corridors for cyclists and safe crosswalks for pedestrians. 

 

Under preliminary plans, parking would be removed in some areas to improve intersection/driveway sight lines. Current on street parking would be replaced with painted lines. In addition, bicycle share road markings would be added, although no designated bike lanes are being built. On street parking has been proven to reduce speeding and this area has benefitted from tree-lined, walkable streets and sidewalks for 100 years. 

 

 

Concerns made by the community and shared with the RAP Transportation & Infrastructure Committee include:

  • Removal of 62 parking spaces from Edgewood Ave. S to King Street, with the rationale to improve sight lines for cars entering and exiting driveways, will increase speeding. Parked cars are a proven way to reduce speed and combined with trees and smart traffic calming measures already being planned, will continue to benefit pedestrians and cyclists.  
  • Adding a Shared Use Lane marking for cyclists along St. Johns Avenue while not adding a bike lane and removing parking that is proven to slow traffic, is unsafe for cyclists. 
  • Failure to incorporate proposed traffic-calming landscaped “bumpouts”, which are extensions of sidewalks and medians that shorten crosswalk distance for pedestrians, is a missed opportunity. 
  • Failure to provide crash data that supports specific removal of individual parking spaces to increase visibility where necessary has not been provided. 
  • Failure to incorporate raised pedestrian crosswalks at important intersections near St. Vincent’s, Publix and RAM is a missed opportunity.
  • Failure to integrate critical drainage solutions for Riverside Avenue from Stockton St. to Osceola St. is a missed opportunity.

 

The safety of the neighborhood and the retention of our historic fabric is a primary concern in our feedback to the FDOT. 

These comments and more are being sent by Riverside Avondale Preservation and our committee members, and we hope you will send your own comments regarding the project. Submit comment by February 26 (this Sunday) as an email to Jeff.Daugharty@dot.state.fl.us.