A long-awaited plan to build safer pedestrian crossings on State Road A1A in Indian Harbour Beach will be presented by Florida Department of Transportation on Tuesday, July 31, at the St. Marks United Methodist Church, 2030 N. SR A1A with a public meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. and a formal presentation at 6 p.m.
Officially marked pedestrian crossings with a safety spot midway are becoming the norm on A1A in Brevard County, with several already under construction in Satellite Beach. The goal of these projects is to minimize pedestrian conflicts.
The section of the DOT project to be discussed July 31 is currently in design and covers the area on A1A from U.S. 192 north to Eau Gallie Boulevard. Currently there are no raised medians or defined areas in Indian Harbour Beach to give pedestrians a refuge to go halfway across the road and wait for traffic to clear before continuing to the other side.
The DOT project will modify one existing pedestrian mid-block crossing and add 11. The existing crossing, located south of 2nd Avenue, will get additional safety features. Of the 11 proposed crossings, five are proposed to be Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs). Those locations are: South of 2nd Street, North of Watson Drive, North of Flugg Avenue, North of Terrace Shores, North of Poinsettia Street.
“The initial plans for this project have been submitted. The public meeting is being held to provide the public an opportunity to view the initial design and provide comment,’’ said FDOT spokesman Jessica Ottaviano.
The final plans for the project are scheduled to be completed in March 2019, with letting for construction scheduled for July 2019, she said.
The origin of the new crossings goes back to a Pedestrian Safety Study conducted in 2015 by Traffic Engineering Data Solutions, Inc., which looked at the locations where there were conflicts and recommended where the crosswalks were needed.
In a related matter, the DOT, at the request of Indian Harbour Beach City Manager Mark Ryan, is looking at whether an additional crossing might be warranted at a mid-block location south of Atlantic Avenue, where earlier this year an accident occurred involving a bicyclist and a car.
When evaluating a potential crossing location DOT looks at crash data, turning movement counts including pedestrian and bicycle, pedestrian generators and attractors in the vicinity, sidewalk connectivity on both sides of the road, nearest existing/proposed crossing locations, and planned and/or potential future developments near the location, Ottaviano said.
If it is deemed appropriate by DOT, that intersection would be addressed as a separate, future project, she said.
The current FDOT construction project on A1A, running from U.S. 192/Fifth Avenue in Indialantic north to Pineda Causeway, includes six mid-block crossings to be added near the intersections of Satellite Avenue, Sunrise Avenue, Magellan Avenue, Royal Palm Boulevard, Ellwood Avenue and Grant Avenue.
