Breaking point for Keys traffic?
Millions of visitors to the Florida Keys each year has a downside: Multiple, sometimes deadly, auto accidents on the 100-mile stretch of U.S. 1 spanning the island chain.
Local officials looked for solutions during a meeting Friday in Marathon held by Monroe County Mayor George Neugent and state Department of Transportation District 6 Secretary Jim Wolfe.
“We are here to work on ways to help mitigate our traffic problems because everybody has had enough of it. It affects us all and it potentially affects our economy,” Neugent said.
County officials and those from the Keys’ five municipalities of Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, Key Colony Beach and Layton voiced their concerns and ideas directly to Wolfe.
There was a discussion about over-the-road pedestrian bridges in Key West and at Founders Park in Islamorada. There is also a need for center turning lanes, a lack of which contributes to backed-up traffic and accidents.
There were almost 30 traffic fatalities in the Keys handled by the Florida Highway Patrol last year.
County Administrator Roman Gastesi requested Friday that DOT looks into the feasibility of some type of rapid transit/light rail system to lessen the number of vehicles on U.S. 1. That’s been looked at in the past.
Islamorada Councilman Mike Forster said he’s been discussing the concept of a permanent pedestrian bridge at Founders Park, mile marker 87, with state and federal officials for more than a year. Depending on the number of lanes over which a temporary pedestrian bridge is built, it can cost anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000 for each event, he said.
A permanent bridge could cost from $600,000 to $1.2 million, he said, but the village is ready to put some “skin in the game.”
“We are the choking point of Monroe County in stopping traffic. A pedestrian bridge is one way we can alleviate that,” Forster said.
He said he’s in contact weekly with DOT officials and state Rep. Holly Raschein (R-Key Largo) pushing for the bridge.
Forster told the Keynoter he’s in favor of making Overseas Highway a toll road. A federal statute called Title 23 allows exceptions in some cases, for which Forster is pushing in Islamorada.
He said it’s still in the discussion phase with state representatives and did not want to comment on where percentages of revenue would go but he had floated the idea of Everglades restoration. He is also proposing a binding referendum in which Monroe County’s registered voters could have a say on the toll, which also has been looked at in the past.
“It’d be like any other election,” he said. “It’s just an idea I’m just throwing it out there for conversation.”