09-24-18 Handout- JMS P2SARC Recommendation to Reconfigure 18th Street Beach Access Parking
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
PARKING AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ADVISORY RESOURCE COMMITTEE MEETING
RECOMMENDATION FOR PRESENTATION TO THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY
COMMISSION TO RECONFIGURE PUBLIC PARKING AT THE 18TH STREET BEACH
ACCESS
AGENDA ITEM: Recommendation to the City of Atlantic Beach City Commission
to direct City staff to reconfigure public parking at the 18th
Street beach access.
SUBMITTED BY: John M. Stinson, Chair – P2SARC
REPORT DATE: 24th of September 2018
BACKGROUND: The Parking and Pedestrian Safety Advisory Resource
Committee is charged with evaluating and making
recommendations to improve pedestrian safety within the City.
Excluding public parking areas within the boundaries of
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, the 18th Street beach access public
parking is arguably the second largest public parking in Duval
County, Florida.
As recently as 2012 and perhaps later, the public parking area
at the 18th Street Beach Access was expanded by simple
striping changes of parking spaces, adding some 10 or so
additional parking spaces. Many of these added spaces are
encroaching on legal boundaries and distance limitations to
street intersections.
There is a misconception that the City of Atlantic Beach is
required to provide the 50+ parking spaces at the 18th Street
access to qualify for beach dune restoration funding awarded
by the US Army Corp of Engineers. In fact, only 40 of these
parking places are included in the calculation for beach dune
restoration funding. Further, documents governing the beach
dune restoration funding, appear to limit the number of
qualifying parking spaces at any one beach access to a
maximum of 25 spaces.
Present day configuration of parking is described as:
1. Seven (7) parallel parking spaces on the south side of
18th Street, between Ocean Grove Drive and Beach
Avenue, aligned for eastbound traffic, and:
2. Forty-six (46) perpendicular parking spaces on the
north side of 18th Street, between Seminole Road and
Beach Avenue, aligned for either east or westbound
traffic use.
There may be other historical information, not presented in
this chronology and not available at the time of the drafting of
this report.
JUSTIFICATION: By the very nature of its creation and charge, the Parking and
Pedestrian Safety Advisory Resource Committee, the P2SARC
has focused many efforts on ensuring pedestrian safety,
particularly when the interaction between pedestrians and
cyclists comes in close proximity to vehicular traffic.
Using standard parking space dimensions, the street width
between the parallel parking on the south side of 18th Street
and the perpendicular parking on the north side of 18th Street
inherently restricts the useable street to 19’ or less between
Ocean Grove and Beach Avenue. This width is less than what
would be considered acceptable for a normal street.
This reduced width causes narrow traffic lanes and “too close
for comfort” passage of vehicles when opposing traffic is
encountered.
Consider also there is no sidewalk anywhere on 18th Street
between Seminole Road and Beach Avenue or the beach access
stairs and ramp. Without any sidewalk or offset whatsoever
from the end of private property to the beginning of public
parking, forces residents and visitors to use 18th Street as their
“sidewalk” to get to the beach access stairs and ramp, further
reducing the useable street width to something far less than
the aforementioned 19’.
The current configuration causes problems such as blocked
traffic on the entire street while vehicles and drivers are
negotiating perpendicular parking, beach goers unloading
beach items directly into the street in preparation for going to
or returning from the beach, the beach access stairs empties
directly onto the 18th Street and Beach Avenue intersection,
and until the shower relocation is accomplished, bystanders
are standing in the intersection waiting to use the shower.
The PPSARC has spent considerable effort and research into
improving the 18th Street Beach Access are using the criteria of
improving public safety, improving public access to the beach,
to make no recommendation that would negatively affect
beach dune restoration funding and that would not
significantly shift traffic into other nearby neighborhoods.
Implementing the recommendations herein fits well within the
visioning process completed by the City Commission earlier
this year and contributes to improved safety for pedestrians
and motor vehicle interactions and continues to provide ease
of access to the beach.
BUDGET: Budgetary impact has not been determined at this time but is
expected to be minimal due to the primary expense being the
delineation of a pedestrian walkway along the north side of
18th Street in this area. .
RECOMMENDATION: The PPSARC recommends the City Commission adopt the
following recommendations to improve the 18th Street Beach
Access area:
1. Create a public walkway on the north side of 18th Street,
between Seminole Road and Beach Avenue. Initially
curb stops, railroad ties, gravel, sand or any other
readily available material could be used to define the
walkway, and future budget cycles could create a more
permanent walkway of cement and curbing;
2. Restripe by painting all parking along 18th Street
between Seminole Road and Beach Avenue to parallel
parking;
3. Maximize bicycle, motorcycle and scooter parking as
space allows;
4. Dedicate one “authorized vehicle” parking space at the
southwest corner of 18th Street and Beach Avenue,
creating better sight lines and minimizing the number
of public parking spaces not served by the creation of a
pedestrian walkway;
5. Dedicate one ADA van accessible parking space at the
northwest corner of 18th Street and Beach Avenue,
creating better sight lines at the intersection. Move the
second existing ADA van accessible parking space to the
19th Street beach access parking;
6. Paint a crosswalk from the beach access stairway,
across Beach Avenue, to the newly created pedestrian
walkway, and use in-street signage to alert motorists to
the potential for pedestrian / vehicle traffic interaction;
7. Widen the stairs of the 18th Street beach access stairway
and move the stairway back from the intersection at
least 8’ from the curb and intersection (this could be
accomplished in a future budget cycle).
In the interest of full disclosure, the impact of these
recommendations dictates an explanation. First, the
demarcation of a pedestrian walkway and realignment of
parking spaces results in a reduction of 15 spaces at this
beach access. It is believed by the Committee that this
would have limited to no impact on the area during off-
peak times.
Of the 15 lost spaces, 2 spaces could be recaptured by the
addition of motorcycle / scooter parking spots, reducing
the loss to 14 spaces. Additionally, the reconfiguration
would create an additional 10 bicycle spaces, resulting in a
credit of 2.5 spaces, further reducing the lost parking to
11.5 spaces. The PPSARC believes it has identified more
than enough spaces in nearby proximity that are not
currently included in the beach dune restoration funding
calculation, to offset the loss of the 11.5 spaces, thereby
making the net impact to funding nonexistent.
These recommendations create safe paths to the beach for
neighborhood and visitor pedestrians, enhances beach
accessibility for resident bikers, minimizes the impact of
parking on traffic flow, expands the width of 18th Street to
more than 20’ which is adequate for two-way traffic
particularly if pedestrians aren’t using streets for access,
improves ADA access to the beach by adding an ADA
parking spot where none exists today, and does not
negatively impact beach dune restoration funding.
ATTACHMENTS: None at this time.
PRESENTATIONS: None at this time.
APPROVAL:
John M. Stinson, City Commission, Seat No. 2