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Plan could create first roundabout

The project's goal is to make Safety Harbor more attractive by easing traffic congestion.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published January 25, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR - In an effort to slow downtown traffic, the city may get its first mini traffic circle.

But where it would be has yet to be determined.

Tuesday night, the City Commission voted unanimously to give initial approval to a traffic-calming plan created by the engineering department that could include a roundabout.

The plan calls for raised intersections and paving treatments that would replicate brick street surfaces in key locations along Main Street, the one-lane circle and revamping the Mullet Creek Bridge, which is considered a gateway into the city.

The project would cost about $208,000 and would require further approvals before work begins.

Officials hope the measures would ease congestion, reduce cut-through traffic, slow down drivers and make the city more attractive.

"We haven't committed to it yet," interim Mayor Andy Steingold said of the roundabout. "We haven't said, 'Hey, bring on the circles.' There's no way we're going to sock it to the community without further discussion."

If the commission ultimately gives the green light, the first test circle would be constructed away from downtown so residents can judge how well they like it. One possible site mentioned for the test circle was First Avenue N and Marshall Street. To get an idea of how easily drivers can negotiate a roundabout, city engineer Bill Baker and his team studied a traffic circle at Palmetto Street and Casler Avenue in Clearwater.

"I tried to drive my car through it at a high rate of speed," Baker said. "I couldn't go more than 15 mph without thinking I was losing control."

The raised intersections on Main Street would be "subtle, not traumatic," Baker said, only 2 to 3 inches off the ground.

Baker called Mullet Creek Bridge, just north of the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa on Philippe Parkway, the ugliest spot in the city. He wants to use $53,000 to dress it up by yanking out the metal guardrails and replacing them with a more artistic safety system made out of PVC pipe. The plan also calls for enhanced striping, lots of plants, decorative lights and a type of asphalt stamped to resemble bricks.

City Commissioner Kathleen Earle said that doing the job in-house would save the city about half a million dollars.

"I don't think it's a radical plan," she said, adding that it has a major beautification component to it.

"Its purpose is to make the city more pedestrian-friendly, slow traffic on Main Street and make a more walkable downtown."

Fast Facts:

Calming traffic in Safety Harbor

A proposed $208,000 traffic-calming and beautification plan adopted by the Safety Harbor City Commission on Tuesday calls for:

- Raised intersections at Main Street and Second, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth avenues.

- Brick street print treatments at Main Street and Third, Fifth and Seventh avenues.

- Renovating the Philippe Parkway Mullet Creek Bridge.

- A possible test traffic circle at First Avenue N and Marshall Street.

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 23:05:16]