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Lowering the speed limit on 30A?

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SGBBeach Fanatic
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A speed bump on 30A... As citizens strive to lower speed limit, bigger plans emerge | 30a, speed, change - Local News - WaltonSun.com


A SPEED BUMP ON 30A: As citizens strive to lower speed limit, bigger plans emerge
January 08, 2010 10:30 AM
By Matt Algarin

Will 45 be a thing of the past on 30A?

Friends of Scenic 30A and members of the public gathered on Jan. 4 to discuss lowering the speed limit on 30A to 35 mph for the entire 18.5 mile stretch. The change would let low-speed vehicles, like street-modified golf carts, share the roadway with cars.

Bill Freeze, Chairperson for the Friends, believes the change will have nothing but positive end results.

?These beaches have been voted as one of the 12 best places to see in 2010.? Freeze said. ?We have noticed that we need to educate the tourists and the residents about what we have here in paradise.?

Freeze added that LSVs have to be registered and licensed, which will provide additional income for the county.

About two dozen supportive residents and industry experts gathered to hear the proposals made by the group.

In order for an electric cart or LSV to share the roadway with cars, the speed limit can be no greater than 35 mph. There are currently four miles of roadway on 30A where the speed limit is 45 mph.

In addition to allowing LSVs to traverse the roadway, supporters say the change would help to alleviate some of the traffic by encouraging motorists who are in a hurry to use the feeder roads that run north and south to get to their destinations.

Graham Fountain, chief of special operations for the Sheriff?s Office, clarified that this only pertains to electric carts, not golf carts.

?Because it looks like a duck, talks like a duck and quacks like a duck, but it?s a goose,? Fountain said while describing that anyone who is caught driving a gas-powered cart on 30A would be ticketed.

?The sheriff?s office will be taking a neutral position on the topic,? Fountain said of the speed-limit change. ?We haven?t pulled traffic (data) to see how many crashes involved these types of vehicles.?

?We do have some concerns because 30A is a little atypical than the usual roads you may do this on,? Fountain added. ?When the building starts up again on 30A you are going to have a lot more dump trucks and mixers going up and down the road.?

Tim Paul, who is a former district five commissioner and developer of Topsail Village on 30A, said changing the speed limit should be the first step.

?I think the whole idea is to have a complete system,? Pauls said. ?You shouldn?t have to only be able to use your LSV on 30A. You should actually be able to make a useful trip with it.?

Tom Stein, the Director for the Friends of Scenic 30A, agreed.

Stein said he ?has always had a lifetime interest in public transit and was a cable car grip man in San Francisco for four years.

?With my background in public transit and in addition to living here for the past 30 years or so watching the traffic load increase here on 30A,? Stein said, ?it has led me to the conclusion that some kind of public transit needs to be established on 30A.?

Stein said that the time is imminent and that something has to happen now.

The Friends of Scenic 30A will be holding another public forum on the first Monday in February to discuss updates on traffic crashes and the price tag for redesigning 30A for a bike path and low speed vehicles.

Replies

285
Zebraspots avatar
ZebraspotsBeach Fanatic
#2
Redesigning it for a bike path? What exactly is the paved thing people currently ride bikes on?

If we lower the speed limit for golf carts it will be a disaster of epic proportions. Cannot believe they are even considering it.
gmarcBeach Fanatic
#3
I agree thats a darn joke. we have a few people trying to control everything.lets do a check and make sure these"voting people" have no financial interest in the slower carts. is this a setup to swamp 30-a with carts? PLEASE TELL ME WHY CARTS ARE EVEN ALLOWED ON 30-A? THIS ISN'T PANAMA CITY.SO THEY WANT A FEW CARTS TO TAKE PRECEDENT OVER THOUSANDS OF CARS? GIVE ME A BREAK

Edited

Kurt avatar
KurtAdmin
#4
Apparently on a full charge the low speed vehicles get up to about 25mph but a full charge doesn't last long and speed is slower. Since it was brought up that LSVs might snarl traffic they wanted to look into creating a separate path for them which would need to be larger than the current multi-use path.
30A Skunkape avatar
30A SkunkapeSkunky
#5
Apparently on a full charge the low speed vehicles get up to about 25mph but a full charge doesn't last long and speed is slower. Since it was brought up that LSVs might snarl traffic they wanted to look into creating a separate path for them which would need to be larger than the current multi-use path.

:funn:
jodiFL avatar
jodiFLBeach Fanatic
#6
Yea they will blend right in with all the delivery trucks, (UPS, sysco, produce companies etc.) not to mention the tourists that feel they HAVE to be in front of every car going the current speed limit and pass anything and every thing without regard to oncoming traffic.
beasmiesterBeach Lover
#7
We watch the traffic on the east end of 30A in the morning and evenings there's a ton of folks that don't abide by the 30 mph coming out of Rosemary. I'd be for more enforcement of the present limit and a consistant 25 or 30 the entire length of our Scenic Highway.
30ashopper avatar
30ashopperSoWal Insider
#8
Do LSVs include mopeds? I know the tourists love them, but they've become an eye sore / noise nuisance on scenic 98.
John R avatar
John Rneeds to get out more
#9
The majority of the golf carts I've seen on 30A have a line of cars behind them, and are full of kids that look like they have no restraints on. I'd hate to see a 6 year old on the pavement. No good will become of them, and there's no need to lower the speed limit anywhere on 30A.
Matt J avatar
Matt JSWGB
#10
Half of the current golf carts, LSV's, or "group rascals" don't have tags anyway. How about a little enforcement on that first.

P.S. I'm not worried about someone's financial interest in selling them as much as someone who bought way off the beach and thinks this will increase rentals. It's a liability nightmare.
cheesehead avatar
cheeseheadBeach Lover
#11
Lowering the speed would not be a good thing. Just this past week, there are still vehicles that can't do the legal posted speed. As many can attest to, it creates huge lines because there are still the "guarkers" that are inconsiderate. Things should be just left alone, and, I agree with enforcement of kids in golf carts hoding up traffic. And, the mopeds.

As a motorcyclist for some years now, I'm surprised there haven't been {?} accidents involving them, as, the rented mopeheads, do not require a cycle license.It's scary watching some ride down the road with no protective equipment.
ShallowsNole avatar
ShallowsNoleBeach Fanatic
#12
Last time I checked, 30-A was a ROAD for CARS. Not electric carts, riding lawn mowers, horse & buggy, etc.

Perhaps I am totally out of touch, but I can picture no good reason for a golf cart to go east-west or viceversa on 30A. Cross the road to get to the other side, yes, but as a primary form of transportation?

Leave the cart-riding to Seaside, Sandestin, Rosemary, etc where it is safe enough and a good way to get to several attractions within the resort/community without cranking up the gas guzzler. Do not block a major east-west thoroughfare that people who are NOT on vacation have to travel to get to work, school, or - horrors - actually enjoy a day at the beach.

Disclaimer: It is Saturday, and therefore I do not represent the viewpoint of anyone but myself.
Hop avatar
HopBeach Fanatic
#13
it seems like electric vehicles should be able to use the bike path with YIELD to pedestrian rules. i may be stepping in it here....but that seems more logical than making all of 30-A a bike path... imo.
Andy A avatar
Andy ABeach Fanatic
#14
This is an idea formulated and promoted by a group interested only in making money, not in protecting the environment or anything else. 30A is a scenic highway, a road, not a cart, bike, pedestrian path of any kind. Most of it is now 35 mph and the area at the North end that is 45 mph should remain that way. Some of us live here and are not tourists any longer. My pet peeve with Grayton is the stupid speed bumps they have installed. Trips to the Red Bar and Shorty's would be more frequent if they weren't there.
sunspotbaby avatar
sunspotbabySoWal Insider
#15
LSV's, stay off the 4 miles of 30A that are 45 mph. duh. :roll:
Jdarg avatar
JdargSoWal Expert
#16
it seems like electric vehicles should be able to use the bike path with YIELD to pedestrian rules. i may be stepping in it here....but that seems more logical than making all of 30-A a bike path... imo.

Considering that I am regularly almost run down by bikes, I don't relish the thought of irresponsible electric vehicle drivers mowing me down on the bike path.;-) And I can't even imagine what a disaster they would be on a busy area of the bike path, like in Seagrove- that part of the bike path is already a really scary stretch.
30ashopper avatar
30ashopperSoWal Insider
#17
Considering that I am regularly almost run down by bikes, I don't relish the thought of irresponsible electric vehicle drivers mowing me down on the bike path.;-) And I can't even imagine what a disaster they would be on a busy area of the bike path, like in Seagrove- that part of the bike path is already a really scary stretch.

Driving those on the bike path is illegal isn't it? I've seen walton stop people for it I think. (I don't think they should be ticketed or fined heavily though, most tourists really don't know and there are few signs posted.)
robertsondaviesBeach Fanatic
#18
Do not block a major east-west thoroughfare QUOTE]

30A i a major thorough fare? umm... i think you have it confused with U.S. Highway 98, just to its north a couple miles. What's with the stiff opposition to having 30A be a resort/vacation area? Aren't you the guy that runs the agency that's supported by TAXES on said vacation stays?

What if your tax base vacation constituency supports this idea? Would you support it as well?
sunspotbaby avatar
sunspotbabySoWal Insider
#19
If there's a school on it, i would call it a major thoroughfare. 30A is not a resort. There are resorts on it, but it's not.
robertsondaviesBeach Fanatic
#20
Considering that I am regularly almost run down by bikes, I don't relish the thought of irresponsible electric vehicle drivers mowing me down on the bike path.;-) And I can't even imagine what a disaster they would be on a busy area of the bike path, like in Seagrove- that part of the bike path is already a really scary stretch.

I didn't get the impression anyone wanted to legalize LEV's on the bike path. Congratulations on actually be a biker who uses the bike path. A lot of the near accidents I see on 30A are the result of the too cool for school bikers, who prefer the highway, over the multi-use path.

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