COTI Transportation Conversation Generates Discussion, Ideas

provided to The Santiva Chronicle

Bumper-to-bumper traffic outside The Community House on Sanibel told the tale well for the topic of the latest Committee of the Islands Community Conversation: “It’s Time to Talk Transportation.” William Millar, a Committee of the Islands board member and past CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, led the Feb. 21 COTI Conversation attended by more than 50 people.

The goal of this program and other efforts by COTI is to help define the issues and offer possible solutions to the dilemma that has dogged the islands for decades. The talk covered traffic congestion, bike safety on the shared-use paths, environmental concerns, and electric vehicles.

Following Millar’s introduction, participants were invited to suggest remedies and, at the end, to vote for the most promising options. With general agreement on the need for a comprehensive transportation study, specific options favored included:
• addition of off-island parking connections to shuttles or other transit options or for carpooling for workers;
• redirection of traffic to alternate routes based on morning and afternoon needs;
• increased speeds on the causeway;
• switching lane directions on the causeway during rush hour-pricing;
• more affordable housing on the islands to reduce on-island travel by workers;
• airport transit to island hotels/condos for visitors, with bikes and low-speed vehicles for guests;
• new ferry service;
• reduction in the number of entrances and exits along Periwinkle to ease traffic flow.

Several community members voiced safety concerns about speeding e-bikes on the shared-use paths for regular bike riders and walkers. Questions posed included: Can the study of the shared-use paths, halted by the hurricane, be reactivated and completed soon? Could the paths be widened or expanded to allow separate lanes for e-bikes? And could bump-outs on San-Cap Road help lower-speed vehicles pull over briefly to improve safety and traffic flow?

With environmental concerns in mind, Millar explained that in Florida gas and diesel vehicle emissions are the top air polluters, so in a nature-sensitive barrier island more attention must be devoted to encouraging electric vehicles with more public charging options, coupled with expanded availability of bikes and walking paths.

Official causeway traffic counts show fewer vehicles than pre-hurricane. What’s changed is the type of traffic and the speed. With work on the causeway islands continuing, work crews commuting to repair homes and businesses, and a 20-mph speed limit, the reality is frustratingly long backups.

Beach renourishment sand trucks added to the slowdown, although an April end to that work is expected.

Millar, a former developer of statewide public transit programs at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said the islands’ long-time problems with transportation can be improved while still protecting the mission of preserving the sanctuary status of the barrier islands’ small-town nature.

“Many small changes taken together could lead to better vehicle flow and improved safety for all,” Millar noted.

To see video of the public comment portion of the gathering, visit COTI’s Facebook page. To submit ideas for improving transportation, send an email to coti33957@coti.org.

The keynote speaker for the next COTI meeting, at 9:30 a.m. March 15 at the Captiva Civic Association, will be Kati Sherrard, the engineer who led the Sanibel Causeway emergency repair following Hurricane Ian. She will explain what design changes were made to repair and strengthen the causeway. Refreshments will be served. Following the presentation, COTI will hold its annual membership meeting and elect directors.

These meetings and planned follow-up efforts reflect COTI’s decades-long history of advocacy for good government and the preservation of the sanctuary status of the islands. For more information about COTI and membership opportunities, visit coti.org or email Coti33957@gmail.com.