Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 05-21-07 workshop minutes — reading text

traffic. He said to consider it is buffering residential, a church, and a school and it will have a tremendous impact. Mrs. Thrush expressed her concerns with the project and suggested if Mary Esther turned it down to consider changing the zoning to mixed- use. Lou Ann Rathke, 320 Harbor Place and member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, expressed concern over the safety of the children in the afternoon when the schools get out. Mr. Gabriel stated they are working very closely with the City and the School Board to go over the traffic issues. He mentioned David Muntean with Kimley- Horn produced a comprehensive traffic study of the area and did spend a couple of days for several hours walking up and down the site during the school let out hours and rush hour. David Muntean, transportation engineer with Kimley- Horn, mentioned the strict review they will have to undergo by the Florida Department of Transportation regarding access and the provision of turn lanes to get in and out of the site on Highway 98. He pointed out the left turn lane going in and the right turn lane going in at the entrance on Highway 98 and mentioned that they are required to make it long enough to store vehicles as needed and for the deceleration of vehicles as they slow down to travel through the area on Highway 98. He said they have to meet and satisfy those requirements and there is a combination of State and Federal guidelines and requirements they have to follow. Mr. Muntean went through a series of slides that showed what is going on with the traffic and pedestrians on Wright Parkway at the High School and the elementary school across the street. He mentioned the traffic is typical for nighttime games and every high school has to have special traffic arrangements made during a high school game as they cannot provide enough lanes for special events and they have to have good traffic management with all the different parties working together. He said that is one of the issues they will continue to talk about with the School Board. He pointed out some situations taking place such as vehicles making a U- turn in the middle of the street to getin line for the elementary school; pedestrians crossing in the middle of the street, not paying attention to traffic and not using the signalized pedestrian crosswalk; vehicles making a left turn out of the high school onto Wright Parkway where there is a no left turn sign; and he noted there is no sidewalk provision from the high school toward Highway 98. He said some of the measures are out there to take care of these situations but they are not being used properly and suggested the public be re- educated. He said there are some opportunities to team with the School Board to come up with some possible solutions and they are willing to work with the School Board to see if they can make it better than what it is today. I""" It was questioned why there were no slides of the end of Wright Parkway near Highway 98. Mr. Muntean explained they did measure the traffic and number of pedestrians and there were only 4 or 5 people who walked all the way to Highway 98 from the school. He said the number of vehicles they measured and the level of operation at the intersections all came within the acceptable level of standards that they are required to get reviewed by the Florida Department of Transportation, and they did not run into any problems in that area. He explained they looked at the 4: 00- 6: 00 pm and the 2: 00- 4: 00 pm periods, analyzed the traffic operations level during the peak hour of each and did not period find anything unacceptable except for a 20- 25 minute period of time at Hollywood and Wright, and everything else fell within the acceptable standard. He confirmed they did take into account the additional traffic that would be on Highway 98. 286 Council Workshop 5- 21- 07 WAL- MART PROPOSAL cont. The question was posed on who would pay for additional crossing guards if they were to be required. Mr. Muntean replied the School Board typically takes care of it, and he pointed out there are existing conditions out there today that have nothing to do 'Nith the future tenant of the site. It was noted that the building is depicted in Mary Esther with the parking lot in Fort Walton Beach and the question was posed on who would receive the taxes. Mr. Gabriel replied the line between dividing the two cities is almost in the middle of the whole property and as part of the process they are seeking ~ a land use amendment and rezoning to the City of Mary Esther, then at some point the three parties, ' , the two cities and Wal- Mart, will have to enter into a Development Agreement or an Interlocal Agreement to go over those issues. He said the tax issue is between the two cities to work out but he i..'..'. is confident they can come to the table to go over the issues to see what would be the appropriate way to measure. The question was asked on whether a traffic study will be done during times when it is very intense around other Wal- Marts during peak seasons, Mr. Muntean replied they do look at peak season variability but they do not design for massive holiday weekends, they design for the average peak season. The question was asked if consideration will be given to the fact that the drivers going to Wal- Mart will not have the same mental attitude as the drivers going to the schools. Mr. Muntean said they will not detail it to that degree but there is a time when everyone driving on that road had to drive on it for the first time and they got adjusted; so the people will likely be as sensitive as the people traveling out there now. The question was asked if the traffic light at the intersection will help the ingress and egress at the secondary entrance on Highway 98. Mr. Muntean stated the light will cause some gaps that allow people to tum in is a positive thing to have there. Mr. Muntean confirmed there is an existing median cut on Highway 98 that will allow egress for the east bound traffic, and they have not received approval from the Department of Transportation yet as it is in the review stage. He further confirmed there will be a tum lane north going on Wright Parkway into Wal- Mart and the Department of Transportation will have to approve the adjustment and striping of the road. He further explained the volumes out there now do not require a fully dedicated tum lane from the north or the south but because of the proximity of the driveway to Highway 98, they want to put in the northbound left tum lane. The question was asked if the morning traffic volume was studied between 6: 00 - 9: 00 or 7: 00 - 10:00 am. Mr. Mundean replied the only thing they know is that it is less than the other hours they measured, that is as far as they went because if they can satisfy the evening peak period and the school period, they are in very good shape for the rest of the day. He said the main reason is the through- volumes on Highway 98 are highest during the 4: 00 - 6: 00 pm period. The question was asked who would pay for the street changes. Mr. Muntean replied generally whatever impacts a project creates that create an unacceptable operation, they have to agree to bring it back into the acceptable range. Mr. Muntean explained the entrance into Wal- Mart from Wright Parkway would not be signalized because there is not enough volume to meet Federal warrants for a signal. n,.. i The Mayor opened the floor for questions about traffic from the audience. II Keith Wood, 338 Linda Lane, expressed concern with the increase in traffic near the schools and the neighborhood, and with the neighborhoods being used as shortcuts. He wished to know who approves the road blocks when there is a high school game. The City believed the Manager school high coordinates it with the police and fire departments. Mr. Wood