This won’t go well.
State transportation officials want to remove the palm trees along Key West’s North Roosevelt Boulevard — to make room for railings on both sides of the seawall and promenade.
Key West lawmakers will decide whether to support or oppose the proposal by consultants working for the Florida Department of Transportation at their March 14 meeting.
FDOT told the city via email, “…the areas of unprotected water hazards along the west side of the corridor violate (safety criteria near waterways). As such, the Department intends to shield the water hazard with a roadside barrier (guardrail) along the face of the curb. Furthermore, the
pedestrian area adjacent to the promenade … must also be protected via a pedestrian bicycle railing.”
The same email ends with, “…if the vehicle guardrails are approved, FDOT consultants have advised that the palm trees on the north side of North Roosevelt between Kennedy Drive and the Triangle would be removed to make space for the vehicle guard rail.”
City commissioners have been asked to weigh in on the proposal, and urge the FDOT consultants either to proceed with the plan or change it.
And if history is any indication, opposition to the railings and tree removal will be fierce.
City officials faced a similar proposal for railings along the seawall back in 2004, during a major overhaul of North Roosevelt Boulevard that took nearly four years to complete.
At the time, City Manager Julio Avael wrote a letter to FDOT, stating, “The present seawalls were installed in 1926 and we have not had any problems. They would offer little benefit to pedestrian safety, as evidenced by our past history. The pedestrian railings would be a place for boats to tie up that would create a safety hazard to pedestrians. … It would ruin the historic openness of our surrounding waters.”
At the time, in 2004, the Key West Chamber of Commerce, then led by Virginia Panico, also staunchly opposed the railing installation along the seawall — and that wouldn’t have required removal of the palm trees. The current proposal would place railings along both the seawall and the curb side of the wide promenade that is constantly used by pedestrians and bicyclists with very few problems.
“We went round and round fighting those railings,” Panico told the Keys Weekly on March 12 upon learning of FDOT’s current proposal. “We fought it and they finally agreed to make the seawall a little higher. The city even agreed to take over the liability, and there haven’t been any problems.”
Panico said she spoke with two city commissioners on March 12 to remind them of the public’s prior opposition.
The commission meeting starts with a morning session at 9 a.m. The evening session begins at 5 p.m. The North Roosevelt Boulevard proposal will be discussed during the evening session.
See the full agenda at cityofkeywest-fl.gov.
