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| This study was conducted by FDOT in 2018, a year before the county swapped Perdido Key Drive for Beulah Road in 2019--and four years before the county funded and built a million dollar roundabout at this intersection. So, what did the State's study say about a roundabout at this location? |
Ever since we completed the project to construct a roundabout on Perdido Key in District 1 a few months ago--the voices of angst I hear about this project, specifically, generally fall into one of the following three camps:
1. "The roundabout was a terrible idea, it should have never been built and it won't work"---- 49%
2. "I like roundabouts and support the roundabout in Perdido Key"--2% (if you can even find these folks now, post construction)
3. "Yes, I supported the roundabout but this roundabout was built "too small" to work"---49%
Of course, these are rough numbers and anecdotal. And by and large these are not expert opinions.
We have had a number of snafus with this traffic circle which is churning and exacerbating this discontent
So I have been digging and investigating how it came to be that we actually decided to build a roundabout here at this intersection instead of a traffic light or a "no build" option?
When this portion of the county reverted to District 1 in January of 2022, about a year and a half ago, I was told the design was completed, the project was funded (out of D2 discretionary funds) and that the PEOPLE in Perdido Key voted and WANTED the Roundabout.
Being agnostic on traffic circles, I moved forward with the project--with the caveat being I would study the intersection if there were problems and implement new solutions if necessary. That's what I said, and that's what I'll do.
After two weekends of traffic backing up all the way to Sorrento atthe Wal Mart on Blue Angel Pkwy--I directed staff to commission a professional engineering study of this roundabout--with no bias but only "Spock-esque" logical conclusions.
Right now, in the heart of the season, this study is underway. Cameras have been set up in key locations to film this roundabout in action at multiple times during the day. And un-scientific as it is--I have gone through that roundabout from all angles multiple times with no issue. Nevertheless--I want cold hard facts and answers from a professional firm commissioned to provide just such information.
And that is underway and will come back to us in two week's time.
Meanwhile, I'm looking backwards as well--because sometimes one must look backwards to go forward. You see, up until September of 2019 this roadway, Perdido Key Drive, was a state road. Surely FDOT must've studied that intersection (Perdido Key Drive and Johnson's Beach Road) when it was under their jurisdiction----right?? I mean, the commissioner at that time as well as some large developers really, really, really badly wanted a roundabout. Which begs the question: What did state experts say about a roundabout there, at that intersection?
I know what they said.
They specifically recommended against a roundabout at Johnson's Beach Road and Perdido Key Drive in their detailed traffic assessment of that intersection that they performed in September of 2018---a full year before this roadway was swapped for Beulah Road in District 1 in 2019.
See the recommendation in this screen shot from the report, below. (highlighted in yellow)
So I had not seen this report until late last week. Neither did I know if its existence.
But now that I know about it--it does beg several quetions...and I am not putting staff on blast because when this all took place we had a different traffic engineer, a different county engineer, and a different County Administrator. We also had a different commissioner in charge of that part of the county and we know he and others desperately wanted this roundabout there. I wonder if he knew about this report? I wonder if he knew and pressed forward anyway for the roundabout? We may never know the answer to that--and at this point it does not matter. We are in the solutions stage now. And we will get this solved.
But as I look back on the road swap that happened a year later (which I supported for numerous reasons at that time as it represented a good deal for the county and the taxpayers, and I explained why in a blog post at that time)--I cannot help but wonder if the swap was pressed so that this roundabout could be built to mollify some special interests that really, really, really badly wanted a roundabout there--knowing full-well the state would never go along with it if the roadway remained theirs--- as their own report recommended against it?
Could that have been the impetus for the whole thing and for why D2 didn't pull his funding and support for this project even after it reverted back to D1 after the redistricting? Too many questions. I mean, if in 2018 state experts realized the roundabout here wouldn't work---and it has only gotten busier and more densely populated in Perdido since then---surely someone should have realized it wouldn't work with more cars and more people, right?
Remember: This was chiefly funded by D2 discretionary LOST funds. It is part of the reason I went along with it once I assumed responsibility for this part of the county. His money from his district.
But if our new study suggests this is not a proper traffic feature for this location--I WILL PULL IT QUICK and we will constuct what is best for this location, not what a small voice of support or what small voices of support advocated for.
A person very familiar with this whole issue gave a terse, cautionary assessment: "Jeff, always remember it is dangerous to listen to 46 people out of a group of around 74 and assume that number is a majority or a consensus while also disregarding technical advice that goes against what 46 people say they want"
That just about sums it up in a nutshell. Look for much more to come on this topic going forward.....
14 comments:
Just like there's no reason to blast current staff, I'm not gonna blast you because I told you about 49,000 times that Doug and his developers wanted the road swap so they could
--put in the roundabout
--slow down traffic
--try to discourage through traffic
--bring the speed down to golf-cart friendly
--continue to argue it's not a hurricane evacuation route
--take attention away from what ails Theo Baars Bridge
--plant trees and other fauna that DOT wouldn't allow
--start messing with ingress/egresses that DOT wouldn't allow, so that
--Doug could start lying about increased capacity to help tear down the building cap he was protecting to protect.
In all seriousness there was so much crap he had orchestrated down there that it took many people many hours a week to keep up with all his special interest maneuvering, so there was no way anybody coming to the situation fresh was going to be able to digest it all at once.
Wait until you get to seriously deciphering the Inlet Management Plan.
If you really want some fun, you could try to obtain the records between him and his Previous National Parks bud on all the public access and amenities they conspired in removing, including a perfectly good pavilion that had as much "termite damage" as the Lexington community Center.
After that, you could trace how he funneled all the tourist dollars away from Perdido into Downtown and out to the Beach.
You're already on to how he turned the Perdido Chamber into a friendly tour guide station for directing day visitors out of the Key or back to Orange Beach.
Then there's the ridiculousness with the previous traffic director's catwalk theater in front of the Florabama.
Is there still a condo tower next to the National Seashore with a floating bridge as access dancing in his favorite puppet master's head?
You'll never get the credit for it from some, but when people were "blah blah he'll never do anything about the roundabout" my response was always that you do what you say you are going to do, and that if it ended up being a nightmare, you would fix it. Thanks for proving me right. :)
We never came against the roundabout, because we felt like there might be enough room there (unlike at the Beach) for one to actually work. Of course, silly us, we weren't taking into consideration the urgent need to squash up the roundabout so developers had enough mouse houses to make their overbuilding tenable on paper.
That was of course supposed to be "pretending to protect." One of his favorite tricks: to constantly bang a refrain against something he was trying to achieve in the background, and then either flip on it and convince his koolaid drinkers he had always been for it, or claim it was happening do to forces beyond his power. Just like he flipped on JAR per the Sector Plan after goading her into fighting for it.
Kevin had a thought that he can't post as he's recovering from an eye procedure: beware developers popping up now with land to sell to "help" that intersection hahaha
Because Doug's best package of corruption maneuvering was to
--mess something up horribly (sometimes intentionally; sometimes not)
--run to the place and make a video (sometimes drunk; sometimes not)
--get universally mocked and heckled
--bang on the dais at the next meeting and demand staff fix what they had told him wouldn't work, and then
--shuffle off taxpayer dollars to a crony coming out of the good of his heart to remedy it.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Just get it fixed. PS - The ‘State Experts’ also recommended a 4 lane PKD.
When I first got a facebook account and also stumbled upon Escambia Citizen Watch and quickly made an observation that the commissioner there was lying through his teeth and full of BS, I decided to watch closely for a while and just see what would happen.
There are a few articles that can be found on Google that he completely killed the FDOT 4lane project. I don't see how one person could have had the power to do that by himself.
The board played by old rules deferring to "the commissioner in his district" instead of realizing you had a mad man in seat 2.
You came on in 2016 but he started the damage in 2014. I realized his agenda was to keep the Key private and for himself. Of course karma got him with the hurricane. His narcissistic self thought he was immune. Not.
I saw you and Barry messaged on PNJ that you were for the road swap because it helped move projects forward further inland.
I thought it was folly. Still do.
I think even him stopping ECAT routes wasn't about efficiency, it was about NIMBY.
Same reason he tried to keep BA 4 for himself.
I'm not surprised you found this.
Randy Cudd called it. The most destructive commissioner ever in Escambia County Florida History.
Too bad the idiots reelected him in 2018. Even you said elections have consequences.
And went along with the swap anyway.
It is good you are looking into this but what a waste of money that was/is. And will be.
We could have had a four lane completed by now.
Instead we have a Dildo Doug Doosie.
If I am interpreting this correctly it appears FDOT recommends leaving the intersection as a non-signaled intersection, no improvement at all? The FDOT crash data time frame and number is different than what we were provided at the meetings, Jan 2015- Jan 2020. I wonder if Christine Fanchi would be willing to provide any insight into the recommendations and what was presented to the public?
When I spoke against the roundabout (multiple times), the goat farmer pretty much told me I didn't have a say in the matter even though we owned a condo right there in Grand Caribbean.
I can't wait to see how this plays out.
8:25 Christine Fanchi is long gone, and Chris Phillips is the new traffic engineer. I am not sure if Christine would entertain questions on this---I wish she would--- but once employees move on it is difficult, if not impossible, to get them to answer detailed issues like this. So we move forward. Alice Hurst Neal----the goat farmer talked a lot of crap, just like his secretary did (and does). Problem is--when you peel back the veneer--it's all a bunch of gobldygook gibberish nonsense mixed in with rumors, lies, innuendos, half-truths and hidden agendas. That's why, as it pertains to Perdido in particular, every rock I turn over down there (in areas formerly run by goat farmer and skinny-jeans boy)---every time I turn over a rock there are seven scorpions running seven different directions. But I'm fixing issues and squashing scorpions one by one down there. And those two.....well let's just be polite and say they are gone and that is good: that office was one of the worst we have ever seen in the history of Escambia politics, replete with federal lawsuits, ethics complaints, constituent angst, the withholding of public beach access, withholding of public records deliberately, and nefarious conduct. Not to mention the libel and slander that oozed out from under the door of that former D2 occupant's office on facebook chat sites. Yeah, nobody misses those two. Gone and don't let the doors hit you on the way out.
Do tell, why did the commissioner and developers "badly want a roundabout"? Not being sanctimonious, I just really don't understand what kind of appreciable value it adds. Super confused.
Dipshit Doug and crew also tried to get a round about for Pcola Beach in the works too,the tune of about 20 million which thankfully was tabled. He lied so much about that but the hotelier handlers seemed to think it was pretty -- complete with landscaping in the middle. He tried to make it seem like Grover was bringing it.
Sure put him in a quandary trying to act like he was against it on facebook but falling over himself when his handlers came to the podium.
It was just one of the many crazy things to watch for awhile.
But yes the goats farming is so odd also. Is she left snuggling and kissing goats.
Weird ending to a weird story.
Unfortunately the crazy lady with about 12 children on ECW is still in the middle of of trying to stir up angst with EMS.
I'm glad someone came on to set the record straight. Once again.
Apparently crazy Edler is still pursuing the lawsuit because they must have PMed Edler to come drop a comment.
They are wacky.
Thanks for working on straightening out those messes one by one.
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They think roundabouts are stylish and cool looking 😎.
Sure, I wish the roundabout was bigger and it would work much better, but anyone who thinks a solution involving a traffic light or a roundabout wasn't needed to turn from Johnson Beach Road westbound onto Perdido Key Drive hasn't made that turn often. It was a very dangerous intersection during the heavy summer season. Roundabouts work well and are used all over the country and the world to slow the traffic while allowing cars to move at safe speeds. This one just happens to be poorly designed as it needs to be larger. I'll still take this roundabout any day over what previously existed as I don't have to worry about being T-Boned by someone driving 65 MPH down Perdido Key Drive.
I agree! The roundabout isn’t perfect, and we definitely need 4 Lanes of traffic in and out, but I’ll take the safety of the roundabout over what previously existed.
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