SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve roadway conversions of Coronado Drive to one-way southbound and Hamden Drive to one-way northbound and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same.
Body
SUMMARY:
Traffic Operations staff previously presented a proposal to convert Coronado Drive and Hamden Drive on Clearwater Beach to a one-way pair. Since then, city staff has conducted several public outreach events and information distribution initiatives to obtain input from residents and business owners on Clearwater Beach.
The limits of the roadway conversions would be First Street on the north end and Gulfview Boulevard/Hamden Drive on the south end. The goal is to reduce travel time through the area between First Street/Coronado Drive and Gulfview Blvd./Hamden Drive (the box) southbound after clearing the signal at Coronado Drive and Gulfview, while reducing the travel time northbound through the box.
In addition to the one way pair operation, the recently installed “queuing trigger” for northbound Coronado Drive will assist with reducing delay northbound on Coronado Drive. A shorter travel time across the box is a shorter travel time for the overall trip outside of the box.
Beach by Design also mentions one-way pairs as proposed as one of the options for reducing delay. However, it does mention higher speeds as one consequence of adopting one-way operations but that is an enforcement matter that could be mitigated by all way stops at Third Street and Fifth Street on each corridor.
The latest spreadsheet showing the output of three tiers of the transportation model run was updated on July 1, 2016. It shows updated hotel room numbers on tier 3, which is the future scenario model run including all new hotel rooms. There is also a bar graph representation of the same information on the spreadsheet (Page 2).
The initial cost to carry out the roadway conversions is approximately $10,000 and shall be paid for by the Streets & Sidewalks Capital Improvement Project. Maintenance will be handled by Traffic Operations and there is no anticipated increase in maintenance costs.
Based on all the data, modeling, research, and public outreach events, city staff recommends approval to convert Coronado Drive to one-way southbound and Hamden Drive to one-way northbound.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
0315-92277-562700-541-000-0000