Letter: Objections to bayfront project

Dear Editor:

On Monday, January 24th, the Halback Design Group will present its findings and recommendations for the “Reconnecting the Castillo de San Marcos and the Bayfront” project to the City Commissioners at their regular meeting.

Each of us needs to speak up at the meeting — if we are going to protect our businesses.

I thank Fred Halback for providing much needed information on this project and the supporting grant, knowing that I would dissect the project and print my objections. Fred and Jeremy Marquis have produced quality designs, but I cannot honestly support the project and ask that you consider the issues below; then talk to your Commissioners, regardless of your final position.

There will be four proposals submitted to the Commissioners. Some of the common elements to all proposals are: elimination of the parking on the east side of Avenida Menendez; a dedicated traffic lane for horse carriages; one lane for northbound traffic on Avenida; extension of the southbound left turn lane; removal of all left turns from the northbound lane; sidewalks along the street; expansion of the area between Avenida and the seawall and a promenade jutting into the bay in front of the seawall.

Based on the presentations Fred and Jeremy gave last week to the Anastasia Business Group and to the Historic St. Augustine Area Council of the Chamber of Commerce, I believe there are seven major issues remaining, all of which will negatively affect the businesses on both sides of the river. For these reasons, I cannot support this project!

The first is the most important – Why are we doing this? Although the traffic congestion is a problem, no one has been able to articulate why we need to spend a lot of money, time and frustration conducting a major rebuilding project. Don’t confuse “need” with “nice to have”. Tweeking the system will help, but the current proposal constitutes a major construction overhaul which I believe is unnecessary.

Second is the cost – estimated to be approximately $10 million. The City will apply for the grant. However, the word on the street is that we can only get $9 million max. Who pays for the other million – or more? Likewise, we need to submit a grant application for $3 million every year for the next three years. What if we only get approval for one of the grants? Does the project stop mid-stream or is the City on the hook for the balance?

Although the grant does not require a match from the City, experience dictates that our chances of winning the grant will be greatly increased if the City does put in money. How much? Again, the hope is the State of Florida and National Park Service (NPS) will contribute. What if they don’t?

Third is the time block – construction would start in 2012 at best (when the first year our celebration begins). Based on the time it took to build the bridge, I personally would expect a minimum of 2 years to rebuild the street, sidewalks, seawall, etc. That extends the project through Florida’s 500th anniversary in 2013 and into the Civil Rights celebration in 2014. That is a major negative impact to all of our businesses. Regardless of what some people may think about economic priorities, tourism remains our number one revenue generator and our city will wither if we cannot enjoy its economic benefits.

Fourth is the loss of parking – the proposal is to remove all parking along the east side of the Avenida Menendez. This is big…real big! Existing parking has been computed at 17 spaces which would be lost. In each of the last four evenings, I counted 19 cars parked along the east side…and that was after dark. Then consider another 17 – 20 potential spaces lost when the carriages are moved. Finally, the NPS is going to remove (this is a fact, not a rumor) at least ½ of the parking spaces in their lot. Another 70+ spaces lost. Our count is now up to 105-110 spaces lost to our customers.

The project proposes three parking offsets: (1) the parking garage, (2) other public parking lots throughout the City and (3) build the other previously planned parking garages. I don’t know about you, but when I want to eat downtown, I have a hard time finding parking now and I refuse to park in the City Garage and walk to Harry’s for lunch or A1A Ale Works or OC Whites for dinner. As one business owner so eloquently stated: “Not all parking lots are created equal!” People park as close as they can to the business they are going to visit. The parking garage will not replace the parking to be removed on the Avenida! What happens when we lose those 110 parking spaces? The claim is that they are “platinum” parking spaces and should not be used for parking. To the businesses which survive because of these spaces, I suspect they are far more valuable than platinum.

Fifth is the traffic flow – a single lane of traffic moving north on Avenida Menendez. When they remove the parking lane from the east side of the Avenida, they also propose eliminating the second northbound lane of auto traffic. It would only take a single accident to completely stop northbound traffic for at least 30 minutes, ergo no tourist vehicles, no ambulances, no fire trucks, etc. Traffic would back up across the Bridge of Lions for miles and the intersection at the foot of the Bridge would become a stagnant pool of immovable vehicles.

The reason they have eliminated the second traffic lane: the newly created southbound lane on the west side dedicated for the horse carriages and other slow moving traffic requires a 10 foot wide footprint. I don’t get the logic. Fifteen horse carriages get a dedicated travel lane (southbound) yet 17,000 autos traveling south, east and west have to share two lanes. Note however, I give the designers credit for extending the left turn lane onto the Bridge of Lions, lengthening the stacking capability and improving traffic flow.

Sixth is the horse carriage impact – Why are we giving such a heavy priority to the carriages? This is another real big issue. Why not change the routing of the carriages? We all want to keep the carriages and their traditions, but let’s be practical. The proposal is predicated on giving the carriages the priority over automobiles for their operations. At a max speed of 3 miles per hour, they are the single greatest cause of traffic congestion.

The carriages do not need to be on the Avenida between the hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. They can give equally high quality tours through the streets of St. Augustine without strolling down the Avenida during periods of high traffic. After 6:00 pm, traffic is reduced and the carriages can provide the romantic rides the tourists want. The carriages should not dictate the priority!
Seventh is the magnitude of the project – it has grown disproportionately oversized! It is no longer a simple “Reconnecting…” project. What began as a simple project to improve mobility around the fort has now grown to become a complete redesign of the bayfront. For example, adding a promenade/boardwalk in front of the seawall has nothing to do with mobility! This has become a monster project.

A final thought – the citizens and tourists have been suffering for over 5 years with numerous construction projects, all of which have impacted traffic and, therefore, our economic livelihood. For the last 5 years, the major construction project has been the Bridge of Lions. Concurrently, we experienced FDOT resurfacing along US1; FDOT ADA improvements on King Street and San Marco; water and sewer upgrades, replacements and relocations on King Street; reconstruction on King Street west of US1; water and sewer repairs on San Marco; and short term redesign/construction on Aviles Street and the parking lot behind the Episcopal Church. We are now looking at many months of traffic slowdown due to construction on King Street. Next, FDOT has scheduled to rebuild the bridge on US1 just north of King Street.

In August of 2010, the City applied for a federal grant of $10.8 million, to be matched with a City commitment of $2.7 million ($13.5 million total) to rebuild the three entrance corridors leading into downtown. These upgrades are needed, however, if the grants and projects are approved, the projected construction timeline is between Oct 2011 to Dec 2012 causing more inhibitors and blockages to the downtown area.

I don’t know about each of you, but I am tired of these construction projects and my businesses would like to see an economic reprieve for a change. Our economy is just beginning to recover. My businesses would like to recover with it.

We know the new Castillo Visitor’s Center, its drop-off lane for the trolley’s and its crossover is going to happen. What we really need, and what I will strongly support is: (1) a wider sidewalk on the fort side of South Castillo Drive, (2) the extended left turn lane for the Bridge of Lions, (3) eliminate left turns from northbound traffic on Avenida Menendez and (4) new routing for the carriages. Those four simple changes will dramatically improve traffic flow, ease congestion, increase mobility efficiencies and enhance pedestrian safety.

I ask that you contact each of the City Commissioners now so they can make informed decisions on Monday.

Bruce Maguire
St. Augustine

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer