Lakeland officials: Three lanes best option for South Florida Ave 'road diet'

LAKELAND ― Lakeland officials are requesting South Florida Avenue be formally made into a three-lane road, making the 'road diet' permanent despite resident complaints.

The city commission voted 4-1 in favor of recommending to Florida Department of Transportation the corridor be left as three lanes, one travel lane each direction with a central turning lane and extended sidewalks measuring 11 to 12 feet on each side. Commissioner Sam Simmons cast the sole vote against, with Commissioners Mike Musick and Bill Read absent from the meeting.

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"I am glad about the road diet, I think it's a behavior change that we all have to wrap our heads around," Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley said. "We are no longer an agricultural society with big swaths of land in between us that we have to drive independently to get from point A to point B. We have to start thinking about how do we get there without getting in our cars or get there safely as a pedestrian."

The city's decision will kick off a design phase where Lakeland and the state will work to create plans for the final look and feel of the one-mile stretch of South Florida Avenue, from Lime Street south to Ariana Street. It's expected to take 12 to 18 months. During this design phase, city officials have asked FDOT to make several considerations.

For pedestrian safety, Lakeland has requested improved pedestrian crossings by installing audible signals at each traffic signal and add on-demand pedestrian crossing at East Belmar Street. The city seeks to have FDOT identify options for widening the sidewalk on the west side of South Florida Avenue in the vicinity of Polk Theater, along with general improvements to areas just before the narrowed roadway.

Lakeland commissioners are asking left-turn signals be added "as appropriate" at Orange Street, Frank Lloyd Wright Way, Cresap Street and East Belmar Street intersect with South Florida Avenue. This is a direct result of numerous residents and business owners stating they have found it difficult to turn onto South Florida Avenue due to a lack of gaps in the now singular lane of traffic.

Glenn Folsom, a homeowner on Hibriten Way, said he finds it near impossible to turn left onto Hibriten onto South Florida Avenue due to a restriping with double yellow lines. He and his neighbors asked for the street to be closed off and were denied, according to Folsom, resulting in a significant increase in vehicles speeding down his street.

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His final plea was for commissioners to go with FDOT's 'no-build' scenario to convert South Florida Avenue to a four-lane road - two travel lanes in each direction.

"God please make the right thing happen, we need it. Four lanes, not three," Folsom said.

Several residents from Hibriten Way asked commissioners to consider placing speed humps on the road, as the city has done on several other neighborhood streets that connect to South Florida Ave. No decision or promise was made by city officials on Monday.

The city has requested the state formally move to ban any non-delivery tractor-trailers from driving the section of South Florida Avenue, an action that has been debated for nearly a decade. This will require FDOT to come up with an alternative pathway for trucks to navigate the Dixieland and Downtown Lakeland areas, with no specific route suggested by Lakeland.

Ron Smith, a West Belvedere homeowner, said he doesn't think the three-lane design and improvement measures will address the city's issues.

"The real issue is traffic flow, it's too much," he said.

Smith said if commissioners were serious about addressing Dixieland's issues they would look for a way to add more back alley parking areas for use of local businesses. He said what pedestrians do walk through the area are used to usign the alleyways, as its been a safer alternative.

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Joni Costa, owner of three properties off South Florida, spoke in favor of the city's proposed changes and said she sees it as a vision for the future.

"I see a bigger vision later than what we see right now, I know it's problematic," Costa said. "We have to go through that to get to where we want to be. I want to support it and say there are people in community who are a little quieter who can also see the long-term vision."

Chuck Barmby, Lakeland's planning and transportation manager, said the South Florida Avenue has been added to FDOT's list of project over the next five years as "primarily locally funded." Barmby said the estimated cost of more than $15 million the city would have to come up with.

"That is the next part of the process," he said. "Working with FDOT to establish more of a partnership."

Barmby said he's hopeful the city may be able to get to a position where it can split the costs of the road's reconstruction with the state, but negotiations couldn't begin until the decision on the final design was made.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalsh.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland officials go with three lanes for South Florida Ave 'road diet'