FDOT plans north-end crosswalk

A plan to connect the sidewalk at the Longboat Pass Bridge to the sidewalk near Broadway street became more complicated when officials determined neither the east nor west side of Gulf of Mexico Drive was a good place for the whole stretch of sidewalk. The solution: a new, midblock crossing at North Shore Road.

Florida Department of Transportation officials told the Longboat Key Town Commission at its March 23 regular workshop about plans for the crosswalk and sidewalk, which will be bid out and built this year.

A significant drop off on the east side of GMD and environmental issues on the west side of the road forced FDOT engineers to reach the compromise, L.K. Nandam, FDOT district traffic operations engineer, told commissioners.

The design for the crosswalk, he said, will include the extra safety features that are currently being added to the four installed crosswalks installed across GMD down the length of Longboat Key.

Several commissioners asked if the speed limit could be lowered to 35 mph to prevent crashes.

Nandam said FDOT is conducting speed and traffic studies, during which it will determine the feasibility of lowering the limit. That feasibility is determined in part by speeds at which drivers are comfortable traveling, measured by determining the 85th percentile speed — the speed at or below which 85% percent of drivers travel.

“If the speed limit is too low,” Nandam said, “drivers get impatient and pass, leading to head-on collisions.”

Mayor Jack Duncan described the stretch of road, saying “(Drivers) come down that hill like there’s no tomorrow.”

Commissioner Irwin Pastor called the curve approaching the crosswalk’s future location from the north “a blind curve.”

FDOT will install crosswalk warning signs with blinking yellow lights, Nandam said. There will be two signs as drivers approach the crosswalk in each direction. One will read, “Crosswalk ahead,” and another will warn drivers to stop for flashing lights.