Thursday, May 20, 2021

City, FDOT eye revamp of deadly Anastasia Boulevard intersection. Move of fire station is key, officials say. (SAR)

City, FDOT eye revamp of deadly Anastasia Boulevard intersection Move of fire station is key, officials say 

Sheldon Gardner 
St. Augustine Record 



 Officials are eyeing a revamp of a curve along Anastasia Boulevard in St. Augustine, but if the project moves ahead it will likely be years before it's complete. 

 The particular stretch of State Road A1A includes Red Cox Drive, Old Quarry Road and Anastasia Park Road. That area has had fatal wrecks and other accidents, including a fatal motorcycle crash in late March. 

That wreck and others prompted nearby resident Bruce Bates to start a protest in a median in the area; he also launched a website, deadmanscurve.us. The city and the Florida Department of Transportation are working on a long-term solution. The city had already been looking to move its fire station on Red Cox Drive to a more suitable location, and the city is looking at land on S.R. A1A across from the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. Moving the fire station would give FDOT room to rework the curve.

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The land is in the Anastasia State Park boundary. But the park's management plan has identified it as surplus land in part because it's not connected to the park and offers little recreational value.

A mobile sign urges motorists on Anastasia Boulevard to slow as they approach Red Cox Drive in St. Augustine on Friday.

The city recently sent a letter to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection asking for feedback about a potential acquisition.

St. Augustine Fire Chief Carlos Aviles supported the move. Firefighters built the station around 1960, and it wouldn't be built in the same spot today, he said. Fire trucks have little room to maneuver there and sometimes hit the bay, and people have driven into trees outside of the fire station.

Early plans for this section of Anastasia Boulevard 

The general concept of the redesign is to force people to turn right out of the side streets in the curve and make a U-turn instead of trying to cross through the median by making a left turn. Also, the concept is to make a wider median to provide more space for larger vehicle to make U-turns, said Jim Knight, an urban planning leader with the FDOT. 

A redesign concept shows an early idea for how the curve along Anastasia Boulevard around Red Cox Drive could be reworked to improve safety.

Knight described the concept as a "first stab," and the FDOT could develop other alternatives, he said. The department will keep working with the city to put a project on the books, he said. FDOT has a five-year work program, and once it's on the books it would be a four- to five-year window to get a project done, Knight said. 

Too long to wait?

Bates, who lives near the area and refers to it as "dead man's curve," drew more attention to the issue by protesting in a median. He said he's less than enthusiastic about having to wait years for significant change.

"It's quite a long time to go without any type of safety measures for the intersection," he said.  

But St. Augustine Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline and other commissioners recently urged the FDOT to do more in the interim. 

She said she believes speed and alcohol are contributing to wrecks at the intersections.

"But, you know, it's like I've always said, 'If you design a road like a shotgun, people will drive like a bullet,'" she said. "And this long stretch of straight road and the ability to build up a high speed and then to hit that hard curve ― it's a hard break curve. So I just would advocate that we, you know, look at the long-term solutions. I love the idea of flashing lights, police cars sitting and waiting, every kind of signal you can give to people as they approach that curve as possible."

Police Chief Barry Fox said it's not possible to have an officer there all the time, though police do monitor a school zone nearby when the zone is active. 

More:St. Augustine manager says he's working on deadly curve on Anastasia Boulevard

The department plans to install illuminated raised pavement markers through the curve in about a year in the hopes of reducing wrecks in the area. 

And the city is seeing what can be done at nearby property to address line-of-site issues for drivers pulling out onto Anastasia Boulevard. The city already has electronic warning signs posted for both northbound and southbound traffic.  

Knight said the FDOT can't arbitrarily lower the speed limit in the area ― that's based on a state formula. At Sikes-Kline's request, Knight said he'll look into expanding yellow arrows in the area to give drivers more notice. 

Also, City Manager John Regan noted that State Rep. Paul Renner is rising in leadership in Tallahassee, and that a "political solution" could be possible for the curve if the city puts emphasis on the issue. 


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