Safe Routes: Some Accommodations Made in School Sidewalks Project

Students crossing ahead sign (Adobe). The Village of Key Biscayne’s Safe Routes to Schools project is progressing.

After a contentious town hall meeting Oct. 10 about plans for additional sidewalks on Key Biscayne’s streets, Village staff and volunteers have conducted site visits and tours to better understand residents’ concerns. 

The Safe Routes to Schools project aims to improve safety for children walking to school at the Key Biscayne K-8 Center. The Village has secured a grant for $867,000 for the project from the Florida Department of Transport. But residents whose driveways and landscaping are set to be impacted by construction voiced concern over the plans. 

Kristen Guess, chair of the Education Advisory Board, which has spearheaded the project, said there have been three tours of the routes since the Oct. 10 town hall, “to look at the safety features.” 

Groupings of Village officials and staff examined the area with project engineers Kimley-Horn.

Adjustments made from listening to resident concerns and touring the area again include ensuring no live oaks are disturbed and salvaging several palm trees. 

“There have been approximately 20 site visits,” said Guess, “and approximately 17 accommodations came from those 20 visits.” 

One big change is the extension of the crosswalk at Glenridge Road and West Enid Drive by the school playing field, in which the sidewalk moved to the other side to eliminate the need to cross a second time.

But perhaps the thorniest issue has been the placement of the sidewalk on the north side of West Enid. Residents on that side of the street complained the plan crosses more houses than it would on the south side. 

At the town hall Kimley-Horn engineer Leonte Almonte explained it is safer for children to cross driveways than intersections, of which there are four on the south side of West Enid. However, data supporting that claim is still outstanding. 

Notwithstanding, Guess said the other reason the sidewalk cannot be on the south side is the presence of a utility box and a Miami-Dade County sanitary sewer lift station there, which cannot be moved. 

The MDC sanitary sewer on the south side of W Enid Dr. A recent update confirmed the Safe Routes to School sidewalks will be on the north side. (Kristen Guess via Key News)

“Both [previous consultants] Corradino and Kimley-Horn recommended the sidewalk be on the north side,” said Guess. 

Final plans are due to be submitted to FDOT Dec. 16 in order to retain state funding. After that date it would be difficult to make any further changes, said Guess. 

“If we don’t lock in these funds, we will lose the money,” she explained, citing the example of North Carolina as a state that missed out. 

Guess stressed the Village’s Public Works department has been painstaking in its efforts to help.

Department staff “have been very thoughtful, bending over backward to accommodate residents,” she said. 

Jake Ozyman, director of Public Works, Building, Zoning and Planning, said if plans are approved in December, the bid process for contractors will begin in March 2020. Around that time Guess expects there to be another town hall for residents to learn about the process and get answers to their questions about the who, what, when and how of sidewalk construction at their properties. 

The project itself would then be slated for completion over the summer of 2020, when school is not in session. 

“We are going to try to do a much better job of communicating with the public and residents who will be affected,” said Guess. 

A gaffe came in the earlier part of the project when officials sent an erroneous letter to residents whose homes will be affected – before consulting with them. 

There will be a public hearing Nov. 16 regarding the impacts on Crandon Boulevard, which include simple signage improvements and potentially a discussion on funding for additional crossing guards. Although it is a procedural hearing, it may offer another chance for residents to speak up, said Guess.