Local traffic slows as light is adjusted

Local residents of Big Pine who live down Key Deer Blvd. and must traverse the light to get to US 1 on a daily basis may feel as if they have been sitting there waiting for the light to change for an inordinately long time in recent weeks.

That’s because they have, according to Judy Clark, county engineer.

“During Christmas week we got calls from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that there were tremendous back ups at the light on Big Pine for travelers north and southbound on US 1,” said Clark. “They had to position officers at the light to manually switch from red to green to get the traffic moving and avoid lines back to Spanish Harbor Bridge.”

So deputies got permission from the county to retime the light for northbound and southbound travelers.

“We went from a one-minute interval for US 1 traffic to a two-minute interval to alleviate those back ups,” said Clark.

And because the area was coming into its traditional heavy tourist season, with thousands of cars on the road daily making the trek southbound to Key West, officials left the interval at two minutes to allow more cars to pass through.

“We always have a problem during season, especially on weekends when the flea market on Big Pine is in full swing, with traffic backing up at that light,” she said. “We felt it was better to leave the interval longer for north-south traffic to keep it moving more freely.”

The switch seems to have worked, at least for US 1 travelers, because the county hasn’t received any calls about significant back ups in that area since, said Clark.

She said officials will leave the interval where it is for now, and probably make no changes until closer to the end of season, sometime near the end of April or beginning of May.

The interval for local traffic exiting Key Deer Blvd. was not adjusted.

She said deputies and county officials will continue to monitor the timing of the light even after heavy season.

“The state Department of Transportation should be starting the widening of US 1 on Big Pine in June or July, so we may have to adjust the timing again to prevent massive back ups due to construction,” she said.

Timing at the Big Pine is important for other reasons as well, said Clark.

Monroe County must conduct a traffic concurrency study yearly to meet state mandates. Traffic concurrency is judged by the overall amount of time it takes for drivers to traverse US 1 from Key West to the 18-Mile Stretch at Key Largo. Typically, slow downs have occurred at the Big Pine traffic light, forcing those numbers down.

Concurrency is gauged both by overall time, and time in each segment. The Big Pine segment has historically been one of the worst. Concurrency is measured by the average speed obtained through each segment versus the posted speed limit. An average two miles per hour less than the posted speed limit drops the concurrency grade into a near-failing range.

In segments where a failing grade is posted, the state can prohibit the issuance of any more building permits until concurrency grades rise.

The study for concurrency is conducted at least three times during season. The retiming of the Big Pine light may increase the concurrency grade this year. Last year, Big Pine measured out with a grade of D, below the state-mandated average of C for level of vehicular service. Based on that grade last year, building on Big Pine would have been limited to construction where no more than a few dozen trips per day were added to the mix.

Building on Big Pine is slower than on other Keys anyway because of the tighter limits on growth here than other islands where there are fewer, or no, endangered species concerns. The island was under a de facto building moratorium for more than eight years in the 1990s due to traffic concurrency.

Widening US 1 through the business district was proposed as a long-term fix. That widening will add a turn lane through the business district of the island from the end of the causeway on the west end to the beginning of the fenced deer underpass section on the east end.

DOT plans to put a remote light control at the intersection with Key Deer Blvd. so that retiming the light can be done from a central facility if necessary. As part of that project, there will also be a pedestrian crossing constructed at the intersection as part of the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail project that will allow bicyclists or walkers to get from the Gulf to Oceanside of the island and continue along the trail.

That pedestrian crossing is expected to be controlled by a demand switch.

“Once the project is complete, we’ll take another look at the timing of the light and make final adjustments,” said Clark.

Once begun, construction is expected to take a year.

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