10th Street Parking Improvements CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON 10th STREET BEACH ACCESS
CONGESTION
AGENDA ITEM: This is a formal request for the City Manager and staff to begin the
process of identifying the traffic volumes in the area of the 10th Street
beach access, including 10th Street between the beach and Ocean Blvd.,
Plaza Drive between Ocean Blvd. and East Coast Drive, and along Beach
Ave. & Club Drive between 7th Street and Ocean Blvd.
SUBMITTED BY: Commissioner John M Stinson
DATE: The 24th of February 2016
BACKGROUND: The City of Atlantic Beach committed to facilitating a meeting between
residents of the Cloister condominium complex and neighboring residents adjacent to the
Cloister condominium, in which all parties would work to some resolution of traffic congestion
and the Cloister residents requesting use of their south gate. This meeting was held in early
January 2016.
The benefits of the work done by all parties thus far, has identified some concerns that should be
of keen interest to the City of Atlantic Beach and are contributing factors to the requests made
and presented in the meeting of early January 2016.
In no particular order or priority, these factors are:
1) Traffic congestion and driver/pedestrian confusion on 10th Street between the beach
access and Beach Avenue.
a. Contributing factors include: Cloister north gate ingress & egress; opposing traffic
angled parking adjacent the "Bikini" apartments; parking along 10th Street
adjacent to the Cloister north fence; vehicles backing into the 10th Street—Beach
Ave intersection; the heavy use of the beach access by beach visitors.
2) Resident concerns about resident, pedestrian and vehicular safety on Plaza Drive between
Ocean Blvd. and East Coast Drive.
a. Contributing factors include: traffic loads on the street due to the limited access to
neighborhoods east of the area; the speed of traffic exiting Ocean Blvd. and East
Coast Drive onto this portion of Plaza Drive; and the narrow street width between
Ocean Blvd. and East Coast Drive.
3) Resident concerns about resident,pedestrian and vehicular traffic safety on the Beach
Ave—Club Drive route between 7th Street and Ocean Blvd.
a. Contributing factors include: the impact of additional traffic should the Cloister
south gate be accessed; current traffic loads and the ability of these neighborhoods
to absorb more traffic; high levels of pedestrian and bicycle traffic along this
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CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON 10th STREET BEACH ACCESS
CONGESTION
route; limited amount of parking for visitors creating further congestion and
safety concerns.
The City of Atlantic Beach and our adjacent neighboring communities are the premier beach
destination of northeast Florida and the southeast United States. As the Jacksonville metropolitan
area and surrounding communities continue to experience growth, the demands on our
infrastructure, neighborhoods, public safety and our beach access points will also increase.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: Currently Atlantic Beach is experiencing an offseason with
regards to visitors and traffic. Although not one of the more popular spring break destinations,
Atlantic Beach does experience a moderate peak of visitors during the spring break period,
which will begin in a few short weeks. The presenter believes this spring break and the following
summer 2016 period would not be an ideal timeframe to introduce changes to traffic patterns and
more confusion to visitors.
Therefore, now is the time to gather necessary data to evaluate traffic flows and forecast the
impact of any changes planned. Key milestones to complete prior to any influx of visitors or
traffic include:
1) Traffic counters should be placed to determine loads during these times of lighter traffic
and visitation.
a. It is recommended counters should be placed at the following areas for a period of
(2)months:
i. 7th Street,just east of the 7th Street and Beach Ave intersection, in the
offset of Beach Ave but prior to Beach Ave resuming a northerly direction
towards 8th Street and Club Drive.
ii. Club Drive between Beach Ave & Ocean Blvd.
iii. Plaza between Ocean Blvd. & East Coast Drive.
iv. 10th Street between the beach access and Beach Ave.
b. It is recommended the counters be placed or retained again for a(2) month period
on or about June 2016 in the same areas for additional data gathering.
2) Data should be collected from the counters weekly to fully understand traffic loading and
any increases experienced.
3) Data should be collected twice daily for a one-week period at a midpoint in each time
frame to better understand peak periods of traffic loading.
4) The data collection should begin as soon as practical to facilitate implementing any
changes prior to the summer 2016 season.
5) A traffic engineer isn't required, the changes to parking and residential traffic are simple
to address and would be an unnecessary expense to bear.
CONCLUSION: Changes to residential traffic patterns and parking are generally easily
implemented and expense should be minimal. But, time is of the essence, and the issues will be
compounded as time and demand on resources increases.
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CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON 10th STREET BEACH ACCESS
CONGESTION
BUDGET: Time and expense of traffic counter utilization, time and expense for data collection,
time and focus of City staff to meet with other team members to evaluate data and make
recommendations.
RECOMMENDATION: Create a team consisting of one Public Works senior staff member,
one Public Safety senior staff member, one member(past or present) of the Community
Development Board, one resident with interest or experience in such matters, working with one
member of the current City Commission to review gathered data, to conduct a onsite review of
all beach access parking, and to make recommendations to the City Manager and City
Commission no later than the 1st of May 2016.
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