By Chris Wilson

Speeding, illegal passing and traffic all are considered major problems by people who live on and around 91st St. in west Gainesville. At a recent meeting held at the Tower Rd. library branch, Alachua County officials and engineers from Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc., listened to feedback from nearly 100 residents about how the road might be improved from Newberry Rd. south to SW 8th Ave.

(Photo: Residents work with Kimley-Horn engineer Rohan Sadhai on improvements to SW 91st St.)

The section of 91st St. (it is NW 91st St. from Newberry Rd. to SW 1st Pl. and SW 91st St. south of that area) that stretches from Newberry Rd. to SW 8th Ave. is almost exactly one-mile long. The road was designated as a “Scenic Roadway” in 1987 and the protected area extends to 100 feet beyond the edge of the road on each side. Currently, there are two lanes for traffic, which are a little less than 11 feet wide each.

“We have money in the budget for resurfacing the road, which is much needed,” Alachua County assistant public works director David Cerlanek says. “There have been concerns among the residents about speeding. We thought we would address any possible changes to the road during the repaving process.”  According to Cerlanek, the money for the project is part of a $33 million gas tax bond. In addition, Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) is planning to replace the utility poles (or eliminate them with underground lines) on the thoroughfare from SW 8th Ave. to the 85-home Fort Clarke Forest subdivision at SW 1st Pl.

Engineers will aim to preserve the scenic quality of the roadway, while evaluating traffic issues. In the quarter-mile stretch of road from Newberry Rd. south on NW 91st St., approximately 8,382 vehicles travel per day, according to the studies done by Kimley-Horn engineers. However, the goal of the project, according to Cerlanek, is to lower the average speed and not necessarily to reduce the amount of traffic on 91st St., which is considered a “collector” road that provides access to a number of smaller neighborhood streets.

Residents, have had concerns about speeding on the road, which has made it dangerous for some to pull out of their driveways or to leave subdivisions, including Fort Clarke Forest and Cobblefield (which actually is located south of the area that currently is being studied). Some residents says they’ve even seen school buses speeding down the road or drivers crossing the double-yellow lines to pass slower vehicles. The posted speed limit on the road is 30 miles-per-hour and Kimley-Horn’s studies have found that drivers actually average about 40 mph through the area.

In order to slow drivers, engineers detailed a number of traffic calming techniques. Vertical measures, such as speed tables or humps, already have been ruled out because, according to officials, they would slow down emergency services vehicles too much. Therefore, the engineers asked residents to consider horizontal measures, such as roundabouts, adding center islands or medians to the road, adding a choker (a pinchpoint where the road narrows), adding a chicane (or a shifty curve in the road) or a neckdown, where the space at intersections is reduced at stop points.

The residents who attended the meeting were broken up into groups to place various traffic calming devices along a scale model of the road. Some of the residents’ suggestions included better or more visible speed limit signage, the addition of center islands and medians and possible areas for chicanes.

Almost all residents in attendance also agreed that a greater and more visible police presence on the road would help reduce average speeds on the collector.

“The comments were pretty helpful,” says Alachua County Public Works Department senior engineering technician Chris Zeigler. “A lot of the comments that we heard were things that we didn’t expect to hear. I think it gave us a good direction.”

Zeigler says Kimley-Horn Associates will finish the study and present their report to both the county’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee and the Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization. There also will be a public hearing when the study is finished and the Alachua County Board of Commissioners will issue an opinion on the findings.

Anybody wishing to make further recommendations for the study is asked to contact Zeigler through e-mail (czeigler@alachuacounty.us) or by calling 374-5245 ext. 271.