IN HAEC VERBA: "We need to look at the opportunity of using federal dollars to improve our national park. (The government) is going to spend the money, if not here then somewhere else," Jones said.
Bayfront upgrade plan chosen
Cost not yet calculated for years-long project
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Trying to walk a family across four busy lanes of traffic on the way to the Castillo de San Marcos can sometimes feel like participating in a live game of "Frogger."
One wrong jump and one of the froggies gets squished by a car.
The St. Augustine City Commission last week tentatively supported a plan that could change traffic and pedestrian patterns and improve the appearance of the Bayfront from the Bridge of Lions to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.
The cost of this potentially multi-year, multi-phased project has not yet been determined.
But it will be in the millions and the city hopes the federal government will pick up the check.
So far, the city has chosen one proposed design -- Option 12A -- from a dozen options prepared by Halback Design Group of St. Augustine.
Jeremy Marquis of the Halback Group said a relatively obscure federal grant, called the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit-in-Parks Grant Program, would pay 100 percent of the project cost if the city gets it.
Not even the designers know the total cost for Option 12A, but one city official estimated $10 million.
The best part for the city: No matching funds would be required.
"The Sarbanes grant is designed specifically to improve access for national parks, and often the grant recipient is a national park," Marquis said.
The commission's next public hearing on the project is March 28.
At that time, the Halback Group will offer cost estimates and recommendations to the board.
Commissioners may then decide whether to seek the grant or not.
Marquis said, "The entire national budget for these grants is about $28 million a year. So comparatively, (ours) would be a relatively small amount."
The benefits
Marquis cautioned, "Any road construction would be years away. There's a lot that can be done without touching the road. Even if the grant is approved, the city could say, 'We don't want it.' In any case, we won't get an answer before December."
Regan said many cities such as Seattle have begun revitalizing their waterfront property.
"St. Augustine is a great waterfront city," Regan said. "But psychologically, the national monument and the seawall are a bit disconnected from the city by traffic."
Approximately 17,000 vehicles per day travel State Road A1A through downtown.
The commission members felt, for the most part, that Option 12A best fit the city's needs.
That option would mean:
* Installing a four-foot-wide median strip in Avenida Menendez, removing the palm trees there now.
* Widening the current five-foot sidewalks to 12 or 13 feet on both sides of Avenida Menendez.
* Creating an eight-foot-wide dedicated horse carriage pathway going south.
* Striped bicycle lanes on both sides of the road.
* Removal of 34 parking spaces on the east side of Avenida Menendez.
* Eliminating the left turn from Orange Street onto Avenida Menendez.
* Less parking on the west side of Avenida Menendez.
* Dropping one of two northbound lanes from the Castillo parking lot to West Castillo Drive.
* Eliminating the left turn onto Hypolita Street from northbound Avenida Menendez.
The dilemma
The City Commission's Option 12A is, according to Commissioner Bill Leary, the most expensive alternative.
The decision whether to approve one option or another has to do with future traffic and parking needs in the city, he said.
"Is this a priority to the citizens of St. Augustine?" Leary said. "I see a lot of downsides to this alternative. I don't see it helping our tourists cross the Bayfront to downtown."
Leary said traffic lanes through downtown are confusing and removing carriages from Avenida Menendez could mean faster traffic there. In addition, some Bayfront businesses don't like removing parking from the east side of the road, he said.
The city's decision on whether or not to apply for the grant must be made by mid-April at the latest.
Regan said no match money is required to apply for the grant, but added that if match money is offered, the application would be given more "points" and thus stand a better chance of approval than competing applications.
Mayor Joe Boles said it won't hurt for the city to see how the application process fares.
"When there's money out there, you have to take a look," Boles said. "(This option) is the best one I've seen so far. If we do nothing, we have not addressed the main problem, and that is the separation of the monument from the community by four lanes of traffic that's hard to get across."
The vote
Commissioner Errol Jones said the Castillo's five million tourists a year make that attraction the city's "national jewel" that should be cherished.
"We need to look at the opportunity of using federal dollars to improve our national park. (The government) is going to spend the money, if not here then somewhere else," Jones said.
He made a motion to approve Option 12A, saying that if specific details need to be changed, "We can tweak it down the road."
Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline said that, even with this approval, the board is still a long way from accepting the grant.
"This project is to improve safety and efficiency of pedestrian traffic and make (the Castillo) a positive experience for our residents. These are things we can work out as we go along," she said.
Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman didn't think the northbound traffic lanes needed to be changed.
"I've never been backed up in traffic going north," Freeman said. "I'm still asking, 'What's broken?'"
The vote was 4-1 to approve, with Leary dissenting.
He said, "This is not a good decision. There are small things we can do to make the Bayfront better and more beautiful. I'm worried about the cost exposure to the city."
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