The Brooksville City Council heard a presentation on April 17th from engineers of the Tindale Oliver firm to consider the feasibility of two-way street reversion on Broad Street and Jefferson Street. The firm gave a similar presentation to the Metropolitan Planning Organization on April 18th.
The engineers presented a technical analysis of parking, accidents and existing volume of both roads. The area with the densest parking is at the back of courthouse. Highest preponderance of crashes were found to be rear-end collisions, with sideswipes occurring 37% of the time. Most crashes occur between 1 and 4 PM. It was also mentioned that two bicycle and one pedestrian incident were reported between 2010-2014.
A Level of Service study was completed and found that traffic volume would increase slightly with the joining of Broad and Jefferson with Main Street. Other considerations take shape with the returning of these roads to two-way arteries, including lane configurations, specifics for safety and walkability, cyclists and left-turn facilities.
One option keeps the existing traffic lane width, allowing for parking on one side of the street, and a two-way bike path (on the same side as parking), which would be congruent to the building of the Coast To Coast Connector https://hernandosun.com/coast2coast_4_2016 . Engineers also mentioned that paths for bike and foot traffic can also be added to the existing one-way configuration.
Other possible opportunities of the two-way reversion include the modification of intersections controlled by traffic signals, pedestrian crossing areas around the courthouse, and a roundabout at Mildred and Broad. Additional left-turn lanes would provide a turn-around location at Bell Avenue, and remove left-turn conflicts with pedestrians in the County parking lot.
Options exist for limiting left turns from Jefferson and Broad onto Main Street. Historically, this presented a problem before the one-way configuration was instituted. Adding enough room for left turn lanes is described as a ‘tension point,’ and will undoubtedly result in more discussion in the future.
The current cost estimate for the two way conversion, is $6-7 million, however does not include ongoing maintenance costs or the requirements for state roadway transfer. In January 2016, there was discussion on the requirements by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which include swapping US 98 with Cobb Rd, requiring that Cobb be turned into four lanes which will cost approximately $55 million. https://hernandosun.com/one_way_20160930
Currently, there is no decision from the FDOT regarding this issue.
It has not yet been decided which costs would be the responsibility of the city of Brooksville, and which would be state and/or federal.
Mayor Robert Battista revisited a previous discussion of moving Highway 41 so that it would join SR 50, and run East to Emerson Road, where it would continue north, and rejoin at its existing intersection, the terminus of Emerson Road. According to engineers involved with the project, this is still up for consideration, but in the longer-term.
Council Member William Kemerer expressed concerns about 11 foot lanes assuming encroachment into bike lanes by large trucks. Plans for the Coast To Coast Connector rely on US 41 running through the middle of Brooksville, as it does currently. Mr. Kemerer said that this will result in the city being “almost forced into a one-way situation … for the Coast to Coast Trail (cyclists) to have a pleasant experience going through town, and trying to be sure that the trucks aren’t running them over as they’re in their bike lanes.”
During discussion, engineers said the feasibility study did not factor in the Coast To Coast Connector, and focused on ‘typicals.’ They also stated that the rerouting of US 41 was moving more slowly than the re-routing of US 98, which has been discussed with FDOT more often and recently.
One of the Tindale Oliver engineers addressed the council and said, “If you want to take your downtown back, you’re going to have to put bikes down there, … pedestrian crossings, you’re going to have to slow traffic …” and that with either the one-way or two-way option, changes are going to be necessary to be more cyclist and pedestrian friendly.
Vehicle size cannot be restricted on US Highways regardless of the location, so rerouting US 41 would allow the city to prohibit certain vehicles on local roads. In addition, a US highway designation does not allow for the city to decide on signage and pedestrian crossings.
Council member Natalie Kahler went on record as suggesting maintaining the original plan, which will revert to the two-way traffic configuration, which was agreed upon by the entire council, in addition to rerouting 41 to minimize truck traffic.
The Hernando Sun will continue coverage of this topic as progress and changes continue. 