Conch Connect – A New County Sponsored On-Demand Micro-Transit Begins Serving Key West and Stock Island July 15

Posted on July 12, 2024     1 Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on July 12, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Recent related articles: City’s Expands “Work Force Express” Bus Route and Potentially Ruins It In the Process July 5, 2024 and background about Conch Connect here: A New Transit Service Is Coming This Summer. Our Workforce Needs It and Much More Transit Up and Down the Keys May 24, 2024; All public transit info here.

On Monday, July 15 Monroe County is rolling out a new on-demand, Uber-like micro-transit service called “Conch Connect” on the islands of Key West and Stock Island with the hope of relieving some pressure on the City’s family of Key West Transit services. It will be run by the Freebee company which operates in 40 cities, mostly across mainland Florida, including a just expanded 2-year-old service in downtown Islamorada.

Yes, you read that right. Micro-transit. You see these aren’t your father’s transit buses. To begin with there will be five 4-passenger electric Tesla vehicles + 1 wheel chair accessible lift van, whisking people, often sharing the ride, anywhere within the two islands for $2 per ride between the hours of 5 am to 9 pm seven days a week. Let’s get into the details, discuss what brought this about and talk about what may be coming in the future…

How Conch Connect Works

Just like with Uber and the City’s Key West Rides on-demand service, the County’s Conch Connect operated by Freebee works via an app you download onto your smart phone. With Conch Connect you can pay by using the same app or pay by cash or with credit card once in the vehicle. The hours of 5 am to 9 am, seven days a week, should accommodate lots of riders.

Conch Connect isn’t exactly Uber because, depending upon how busy they are, it could take up to 15-20 minutes for your ride to arrive. It could be faster. It also may direct you to a nearby bus stop or landmark for pick up or drop off, so it isn’t exactly door-to-door. And you also may be paired up with one or more passengers traveling in the same direction. Which means you might be taking some detours. Then again, you are only paying $2 per ride.

By the way, we’ve been told that the drivers are full-time employees of Freebee and make $18 an hour. There isn’t a “tipping policy” that the County is aware of but they say tips would surely be accepted if offered.

Early Rider Feeedback

Prior to the July 15 launch date Conch Connect has ben running practice runs. Here’s what local Kim Stamps said of her experience:

“I took a ride on Thursday (the 11th). This service is a true ride share. They will pick up & drop off of if it’s “on the way”. Theoretically this will move more people.

I asked the driver if they accept tips and it was yes, but not necessary. They’re making $18/hour, employed by Freeebee. She said she lives here – I don’t know her so I don’t know if she’s a local that was hired or if the company brought her down here to get things started – she didn’t know her way around Old Town…I should have asked how long she’s been here lol whoops!

In the app, you can’t see the cars on the map or an estimated time of pick up until you confirm the ride. The driver said if you cancel, you forfeit your $2. I asked her to let the company know this is a problem. I also provided that info in the feedback request that followed the ride.

The driver said long-term plans are to expand all the way through the Keys for about $12, using transfers along the way.

Hope this helps. I hope it helps ease our transportation pains and I hope it saves us some transportation money. I think once people start using it, we will be lucky to get a $2 ride.

They do not check for residency.”

Why Conch Connect

Traffic studies and surveys of residents show traffic congestion is a problem residents and workers want addressed up and down the Keys as well as in Key West. And while the City has operated transit for decades, other than a required ADA-paratransit service and contributing money towards the City’s Lower Keys Shuttle, the County hasn’t been in the transit business. Acknowledging this need, about two years ago Monroe County hired a brand new Executive Director of Transit, Richard Clark to get them into the game. Since then, he and the County have been putting together long-range plans to provide neighborhood level transit, similar to Conch Connect, up and down the Keys as well as frequent trunk-line transit along the entire length of the Overseas Highway. We go into detail about these plans here: A New Transit Service Is Coming This Summer. Our Workforce Needs It and Much More Transit Up and Down the Keys May 24, 2024.

So, while there are indeed long-term goals, Mr. Clark explains they’ve got to start somewhere, and Stock Island and Key West are underserved, and the City’s Key West Transit is struggling to meet demand. We agree as we’ve written about here,  here, here and here. That and it is easier for the County to hire Freebee to provide the service as a turnkey project and they can park and utilize the electric car charging stations at the County’s Gato building downtown. So, this was just a good and quick way for the County to begin their own transit service.

City’s Key West Transit Should Benefit

As Mr. Clark explained, there’s more demand for transit than the City’s Key West Transit family of services (Key West Rides, Work Force Express, Lower Keys Shuttle and Duval Loop) can provide. Especially as they are using larger vehicles. So, if Conch Connect can relieve some of the burden by picking up some trips, then perhaps, Key West Transit in turn can utilize its vehicles differently in the future. We’d suggest maybe by adding trips or a second Work Force Express route instead of the new meandering route as we’ve discussed here. Richard says that all data is going to be shared with Key West Transit and that after 30 to 90 days patterns may begin to emerge from the trip making that are helpful.

Future Expansion of Conch Connect

Richard Clark also told us that they are awaiting word on a U.S. DOT grant to acquire 30 full-electric 13-passenger Ford Transit Vans (5 of which would be wheelchair accessible) that includes 30 low speed and 10 high speed charging stations. If and when received, these could be added to the Conch Connect fleet here on Key West and Stock Island and/or the County could then begin neighborhood service in other areas such as the Lower Keys, Marathon, Islamorada (which already has a City of Islamorada sponsored service), Key Colony and Key Largo.

Let’s Encourage the County and City to Work Together and Provide More and Better Transit

As more of our Key West workforce lives up the Keys it is good news the County is willing to do more with public transit and the new Conch Connect service is a nice little start. Our workers in particular need frequent, easy and reliable options to the high costs of owning and operating a vehicle because our rents are so high. The County and City need to work together on a vision that includes seamless, frequent, easy-to-understand and well-coordinated transit throughout the entire Keys and Key West. Part of that seamlessness would mean using one unified platform and app for transit because at the moment Conch Connect and Key West Rides are not interoperable.

Accomplishing this vision will ease our workforce’s burden, take cars off our congested main road, reduce parking conflicts downtown, help clean our environment, assist our local Mom and Pop shops be more prosperous and make our island chain a healthier and happier paradise.

Good luck to Conch Connect and let’s hope it’s the start of better transit services to come.

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For more information on all of Key West Transit’s bus service visit our Getting Around Key West by Bus page. We also have a bike, walk and parking page too.

City’s Expands “Work Force Express” Bus Route and Potentially Ruins It In the Process

Posted on July 5, 2024     1 Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on July 5, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

On July 1 the City’s Key West Transit “Work Force Express” expanded the coverage of its Stock Island to Bahama Village fixed route service with new stops at the Lower Keys Medical Center (the hospital), the communities of Ocean Walk, Las Salinas and Seaside at 3900 South Roosevelt, the Senior Center on Kennedy Drive and the Overseas Market. A flyer announcing the new stops said that recent surveys and feedback precipitated the changes.

While the new destinations will include more workers’ neighborhoods and destinations, people traveling from Stock Island to the heart of downtown will have a ride that is twice as long, going from 20 to 41 minutes. And instead of four trips in each direction each morning and afternoon, there will now only be three trips – an hour and 45-minutes apart. While we applaud the effort to serve more workers and work places, and we know their intentions are well meaning, we can’t help but think that the longer more meandering route and less frequent trips are a step backwards. Let’s take a closer look…

Work Force Express an Acknowledgment There ARE Ridership Patterns

In November of 2022 Key West Transit switched from fixed-route service on the islands of Key West and Stock Island to an Uber-like on-demand service called Key West Rides. People use an app to call a bus to the nearest stop which then takes them to a destination bus stop. The data collected during the first five months of operating this new service showed a lot of people making trips requests from Stock Island and the multi-family housing complexes on Duck Avenue to downtown for work. At the time the 240-unit Wreckers Cay workforce housing development (photo top) had recently begun occupancy.

It was such a regular pattern that officials decided to institute a new fixed route service to better serve those customers and relieve pressure on the on-demand service. The now one-year-old Work Force Express debuted on June 5, 2023. The new route started at Wreckers Cay on Stock Island and then took Duck Avenue where it passed by the Poinciana Plaza and Arrive apartments on the one side and Key West Estates (Smurf Village) on the other and then headed over to N. Roosevelt and Truman where it ended downtown. A lot of Key West workers live in these places, so the route was aptly named. We’ve written in years past about the need for better transit service from Stock Island to downtown here, here and here and so liked the new fixed route as a good start.

The Old Route Was Direct and Quick, the New Route, Not So Much

The recently replaced route was direct and quick – one of the hallmarks of good service that attracts riders. With the other hallmark being frequency but we’ll get to that in a minute. A worker catching a bus at Wreckers Cay at 2^nd Street and Maloney Avenue on Stock Island would get all the way downtown at Petronia and Whitehead in 20 minutes. Google maps says the same trip by car is 17 minutes so you can’t get much faster and direct than that. Similarly, someone living on Duck Avenue near 17^th Street would get to the same destination downtown via the bus in 13 minutes. Google maps says a car trip will take. You guessed it. Thirteen minutes. Pretty good.

So how long do the same trips on the new and improved Work Force Express Take? The trip from Wrecker Cay is now 41 minutes. Twice as long as before. And that 13 minute trip from Duck Avenue now takes 26 minutes by bus. Double the amount of time. That’s not good.

New Route Is a Meandering Mess

Those trips take longer because the new Work Force Express route is a meandering mess reminiscent of the old Red, Orange, Blue and Green routes that were abandoned in May of 2020 and replaced with two simpler, more direct North and South routes. The two simpler routes were later replaced in the name of efficiency by the Key West Rides: On-Demand service in late 2022.

Look at the map graphic above provided for the new route we found on Facebook. Note all the additional milage the bus traverses is depicted in red, which is the new part of the route. One could get dizzy with all of the backtracking. And why in the word, does the agency now feel the need to go into the Overseas Market parking lot instead of as previously just letting people get off and on the bus on N. Roosevelt? This is a step backwards.

Frequency and Span of Service Goes From Bad to Worse

While the old route was direct and quick, it lacked frequency and a needed span of service that considered non-traditional work hours – which account for so many of our jobs here on the island, especially in touristy downtown. With just four trips in and out of downtown spaced about one-hour apart in the morning and another four trips out and in during the late afternoon/early evening, riding the Work Force Express seems aimed only at more traditional jobs. Anyone needing to be somewhere mid-day or in the evenings was out of luck. The logical next step would have been to add hourly service mid-day and evenings and eventually move to service on the half hour.

Instead, the new service only makes things worse. Now there are only three trips in and out of downtown in the morning and then again in the afternoon. And they are now one-hour and 45-minutes in frequency apart. Yes, one-hour and 45-minutes in between trips. And while the agency’s marketing touts that the new service now “operates continuously from 6:45 am to 6:50 pm” they seem to have jettisoned the first early morning trip and last evening trip of the day, further constricting the span of service. Two steps backwards.

Good Transit Is Simple, Direct, Fast and Frequent

Simple, direct, fast and frequent. That’s the recipe for good transit that people want to ride.

Simple means just that. Riding the bus should be easy to understand. So should the route. The timetable should either have a simple cadence like 5 minutes past the half hour or should be so frequent so as to not need a timetable. The fare system should be easy. The website and apps should be easy. Keep it simple.

Direct means from here to there in the simplest way possible. Which is also the fastest way. THAT was the old route. Not the meandering mess that is the new route.

And frequent. If the bus doesn’t come along frequently then people don’t trust it. Or want to wait for it. It is deemed just too difficult or unreliable. Coupled with frequency is span of service. If I take the bus one way but it doesn’t come back at night, then what’s the point?

What They Should Have Done

The old Work Force Express was at least simple, direct and fast. All they needed to do was add more frequency and span of service. Three out of four wasn’t so bad. And if officials see a need to serve the communities of Ocean Walk, Las Salinas and Seaside at 3900 South Roosevelt, which is a good idea, perhaps they should have started a separate Work Force Express bus. If it took the same Duck Avenue route to downtown, then the communities of Poinciana Plaza and Arrive apartments and Smurf Village would have twice the service they have now.

We know our friends at Key West Transit are trying to do good. But by trying to do too much or be all things to all people on one route, the new and improved service is anything but and is no longer simple, direct and fast and is even less frequent than it was before. This was a missed opportunity.

We reached out to Key West Transit officials over a week ago for a response to our inquiries about the additional time the route takes and the changes to the number of trips. At press time we received an updated map of the service but didn’t get a response to the questions.

Transit Could Help Key West Prosper

Transit and helping everyone move about is a foundational function of municipalities. Especially as not everyone can afford a car to get about and also because our downtown was laid out before cars were invented and we just don’t have the room for everyone to drive everywhere. So, the City, by making it easy to get around by walking, biking AND transit helps its residents and businesses prosper.

For our island’s sake, we need for the City to go back to the drawing board and get this route right.

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For more information on all of Key West Transit’s bus service visit our Getting Around Key West by Bus page. We also have a bike, walk and parking page too.

Key West Improves Its PeopleforBikes Bike Score and Ranks as #1 in Florida, #44 in U.S.A. and #116 in World

Posted on June 28, 2024     Leave a Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on June 28, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Since 2018 PeopleforBikes has annually put out its City Ratings, ranking the best places to bike. On June 24 they released their 2024 ratings. For the fifth year in a row, Key West improved its score – now 68 on a 100-point scale – and is ranked the #1 city in Florida, #44 in the U.S.A., #116 in the World and #37 of small cities (less than 50,000 residents) in the United States. This year PeopleforBikes rated 2,579 cities worldwide, 2,300 of which are in the U.S.

A score of 50 is considered the minimum for “good” bicycling and only eight percent (8%) of U.S. cities achieved this. The average score for U.S. cities is only 25, two points higher than the year before. PeopleforBikes ranked the top 20 City Ratings Score Improvements over the last five years from 2020 to 2024 and Key West ranked 8^th going from 39 points to 68 over that period. In this context, Key West’s score is indeed impressive.

This is great news for our little island paradise, and it shows progress. However, analysis of the data and discussions with Key West bicycle advocates over the years reveals that much of our high score and top ranking has a lot to do with natural factors. We’re small – and most of the cities atop the rankings are in the small category. We also have a compact mostly gridded street system that is conducive to getting around. And while the methodology doesn’t take it into account, we’re flat and have good weather year round. All of which act as natural advantages and as a result lots of us bike.

We’ve documented recent bicycle progress here, here, here, here, and here, but in the grand scheme of things these are mostly small investments. And they often pale in comparison to the big misses we’ve discussed here, here, here, here, here, and here. So, we continue to ask the question, in this our fifth year covering the annual ratings story ( 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020), given our natural advantages, what would Key West’s score and ranking be if we really tried and put substantial dollars into making our island into a biking paradise? Let’s dive into the 2024 City Ratings and talk about Key West…

The PeopleForBikes Annual City Ratings = Tough Standards

Each year PeopleForBikes has rated more and more cities, so there’s more competition between places in the rankings. This year they added 816 U.S. cities  for a total of 2,300 and another 133 abroad for a total of 2,579 worldwide. Many of the cities beyond our borders are considered the best bicycle cities in the world and PeopleforBikes does this to provide U.S. cities with some context.

Each city receives a City Ratings score on a scale of 0-100. A low score (0-20) indicates a weak bike network, meaning the city lacks safe bikeways or there are gaps in the network. A high score (80-100) indicates that most common destinations are accessible by safe, comfortable bike routes that serve people of all ages and abilities. Sixteen of the international cities including Paris and Amsterdam scored more than 80 points. Thirteen cities in the U.S. did, all of them were in the small city (less than 50,000 residents) category though.

Florida cities, even with Key West’ high scoring pulling them up, averaged a dismal 16 points and this is one reasons why we don’t like some people’s car-centric mainland attitudes towards our streets here on the island, especially in old town. PeopleforBikes says scoring 50+ points is considered a “significant tipping point on a place becoming a great place to bike.” Only 183 cities or eight percent (8%) of the total scored 50 plus points in the U.S. The average score for all cities was 28 worldwide and 25 in the U.S. Tough standards indeed!

Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) Is the Base of the Score

City ratings are based on the Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) Score, which measures the quality of a city’s bicycle network. A bike network is defined as the system of paths, trails, and streets that someone riding a bike can use to get to everyday destinations. High-scoring cities often perform well across six factors captured in the acronym SPRINT: safe speeds, protected bike lanes, reallocated space for biking and walking, intersection treatments, network connections, and trusted data.

Each city’s score is then broken down into six categories: People – access to parts of the city where residents live; Opportunity – access to jobs and schools; Core Services – access to places that serve basic needs like hospitals and grocery stores; Recreation – access to parks and trails; Retail – access to major shopping centers; and Transit – access to major transit hubs.

You can read more about SPRINT at How to Improve Your City’s Score. For more granular detail on how the BNA works, read the full methodology. For historical data and details on the software, visit their BNA Mechanics website.

Key West’s BNA Scorecard: Slower Speeds, Downtown Grid and Some New Traffic Calming Account for Improved Score

Key West has a BNA Score of 68. The essence of the score uses mapping data software to figure out if people can get to places from where they live or “neighborhoods” to jobs, schools, core services, recreation, retail, and transit safely by bike. The safely part is measured by street speeds. If 20 mph or lower that’s good. If the street has higher speeds, does it have protected bike lanes and intersection treatments to get people around to counteract the higher speeds? Are these bike facilities connected?

As Key West is so compact and has an efficiently laid out street grid, it isn’t surprising that people can find a way to get to most places in a safe manner. The grid helps because if a person perceives one street or a few blocks as unsafe, there’s usually a slow street one can use a block or two away. In contrast many places laid out after WWII don’t have this and so people on bikes are forced into unsafe situations to get across town. Thus, all those awful scores in the suburban sprawl that is mainland Florida.

Below are the scores for Key West for the last four years. Access from neighborhoods to jobs, recreation and most things seems good. The only category that isn’t is “Core Services” or places like hospitals and grocery stores. When you realize that both Publix stores and Winn Dixie are on N. Roosevelt and the hospital is on College Road where there are no bike lanes, you understand the low score of 51.

Overall access is visually apparent looking at the BNA Score Stress Map below. And it confirms what everyone who lives here already knows. The dangerous streets, those PeopleForBikes depicts in red, are N. Roosevelt Boulevard, Truman Avenue, Flagler Avenue, the Palm Avenue Bridge, Kennedy Drive and College Road. Mostly places where the speeds are above 20 mph. Many don’t have bike lanes either.

If we compare this year’s Stress Map with the previous two years (below), one can’t help but notice the number of high stress (red) streets downtown has gone down over time. As the City hasn’t done a lot of new bike infrastructure in Old Town (the new bike lane on United Street wouldn’t yet be in the data), we think it might have something to do with the mapping data acknowledging the City’s low speed limit city-wide of 20 mph on most streets. When we talked with the City’s Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski last year, he verified that yes, he and his team of interns “corrected the speed limits available to the algorithm at OpenStreetMaps” which is the street mapping data that PeopleForBikes uses in the BNA. Ryan added that the City Commission lowered the city-wide speed limits in 2020 on the recommendation of the Parking and Alternative Transportation Group. We’d also note that Eaton Street no longer appears in red and that may be due to the fact that the City installed traffic calming devices at all the intersections.

So, the improved score, going from 59 to 68 over the last four years, accurately reflects the now slower speeds on the ground downtown and that’s a good thing. It also reflects better, more accurate data, one of the six principles of SPRINT. So good on Ryan and his team for correcting the data.

The City’s Multi-Modal Coordinator Says

When we talked to the City’s Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski about this year’s score and ranking here’s what he told us:

“Although a 2-point increase to “68” doesn’t sound very good, Key West has been identified as having the best bicycle network in the State of Florida. In addition, Key West has shown some of the most improvement in the U.S. (8^th from 2020-2024). This improvement is the result of improved bicycle routes, such as along United St, as well map data used to calculate our network score. The goal, however, is to ensure that everybody in Key West can easily travel by bicycle regardless of their age or ability. Ongoing construction projects, such as the South St Improvements, and the Staples Bridge projects will improve our score and harden it. Our worst scoring metric, “Core Services” which includes access to places that serve basic needs like hospitals, is a recognized opportunity identified within our Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan. Support for improved bicycle access to facilities on Stock Island would make a big impact on our score, as well as convenience for residents who would like to pedal to/from our transit hub. With continued support from our community, I’m confident our score will continue to rise!”   

What More Do We Need to Do to Improve Key West’s Score and Ranking?

We’ve gotten the low hanging fruit or points out of our natural advantages of being small, flat, great weather and good bones (compact street grid). To significantly improve our score, Key West needs to look to the data, as visualized in the Stress Map, which makes it clear what facilities need to be made safer. Just follow the red streets. One can also look to the recommendations in this article here: Two Bike Crashes This Week Are Two Too Many. Here’s 10 Things to Make Bicycling Safer, November 12, 2022, or look at this quick list:

• Finishing the Southard Street bike lane into the 300 block
• Bike lanes on College Road
• Separated paths for bikes on N. Roosevelt and S. Roosevelt
• Building the Wickers Trail segment of the Crosstown Greenway
• Fixing the intersections and driveways on N. Roosevelt
• Making Kennedy Street 2 lanes with a middle turn and protected bike lanes
• Protected bike lanes on the First and Bertha Street Corridor
• Continuing the bike lanes, the length of White Street
• Installing bike corrals throughout the downtown in the street
• Continuing bike lanes through intersections and installing bike boxes
• Putting a light at Duck Avenue and S. Roosevelt
• Widening the sidewalk on the outbound side of the Triangle
• Educate visitors to slow down and watch out for bikes
• Upgrade the Crosstown Greenway with signage and paint
• Giving bike and e-scooter share a fair shot instead of making it hard to start
• Asking developers to put in less car parking and more bike parking
• Widening sidewalks with parklets
• Build the Salt Ponds and Smathers Beach Bike Trails
• Finish the South Street bike lane
• Connect up all the bike lane and path segments around town
• Reconsider removing parking and installing protected bike lanes throughout downtown including on Whitehead and Simonton
• Make Duval Street more pedestrian and bike friendly

There’s obviously lots of ideas on how to make biking safer and easier. What are we forgetting in this list and article above? As Tom Theisen, the “Bike Man” has pointed out in the past, in order to go beyond simply replacing the facilities we have now and put in new/additional infrastructure like protected bike lanes, separated paths or even just to connect up all the disjointed regular bike lanes, we are going to need to occasionally take some car parking out and that’s going to take some political will and spending dollars that we have heretofore not witnessed as is amply demonstrated by the County refusing to allow the City to finish the Southard Street bike lane in the 300 block because they’d rather have private parking on the street for 10 employees.

Key West’s Bicycling Future Is Up To All of Us

Key West’s score and ranking in the PeopleforBikes City Rating are great. And we’re cheered on by the fact that our City’s Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski gets it and has been steadily knocking out some excellent projects. But rather than pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, especially when much of that score is because of our natural advantages or the easy stuff, we should use this news as a catalyst to spur us on to even higher heights. Imagine Key West being mentioned as one of the greatest bike cities, not just on the continent, but the world. With a little bit of elbow grease and money, it is indeed possible.

Doing this will make life better for our own citizens as we lessen our traffic and downtown parking congestion, clean our air, make ourselves happier and make our Mom-and-Pop shops more prosperous. We can also bring down the cost of living for our beleaguered workforce by allowing more of them to go car-free. When we make it safer and easier to bike, we all win!

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Governor’s Veto Means Local Key West Arts Groups, Theaters and Museums Lose Funds

Posted on June 21, 2024     1 Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on June 21, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Last week 13 local arts and museum nonprofits including the Waterfront Playhouse, Bahama Village Music Program and Mel Fisher and History of Diving Museums lost almost $800,000 in monies approved by the State Legislature as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in cultural and museum grants across the state. According to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Arts & Culture, which administers the grants, this is the first time in the history of this decade’s old program that this has happened. Even the NY Times chimed in.

The Studios of Key West sent out a fundraising email early Tuesday morning asking its members to “fill the gap” for cuts they said would cost them at least $75,000 in operating funds and $277,500 for much needed improvements to its theater. Other organizations losing money in the veto include the Monroe County Council of the Arts, Key West Art & Historical Society (KWAHS) which runs the Custom House, Lighthouse, Fort East Martello and Tennessee Williams Museums, Key West Literary Seminar, Reef Environmental Education Foundation, and Red Barn Theatre. (Full disclosure, I work for Red Barn Theatre.) As an example, tickets to Red Barn shows only make up about half of its annual budget, so donations and grants help it, and all of these organizations get by.

Arts and history are crucial to Key West’s economy so all of these organizations will need the community to step up and “fill the gap.” Here’s what happened…

State’s Division of Arts & Culture Seems a Target

According to the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, the across the board cuts for 577 arts programs and 33 cultural facilities (one of which was The Studios’ ask) was part of nearly $1 billion worth of projects the Florida Legislature funded that the Governor vetoed when he signed the state’s $116 billion state budget. Most of the larger cuts in the veto were of special projects lawmakers had tucked into the budget they passed on March 1. So, it seems especially surprising that one State agency, the Division of Arts & Culture, which has been providing support to the arts community throughout Florida in the name of tourist development for decades, would get all its grants simply wiped out. Reports in papers from the mainland said the Governor didn’t give a specific reason for vetoing this line item.

On the other hand, given this Governor’s proclivities for not believing in climate change, banning books, critical race theory, rainbow flags and transgender care, and defunding diversity, equity and inclusion programs just to name a few of his “anti-woke” policies, perhaps his wiping out arts programs shouldn’t have been the surprise it was to most of these organizations across the state.

Multiple news outlets reported that the State’s own economic studies have shown that every $1 spent on arts and culture programs generates about $9 more in related spending. And these grants are specifically set up to support job creation AND foster tourism, which they do. So again, why in a $116 billion dollar budget, would one target $32 million ($26M in operating and $6M in capital) for this agency’s support to local arts and culture (less than .03% of the total) when every dollar counts for these small nonprofits who do so much good? It just doesn’t make economic sense.

Here’s how Monroe County Mayor Holly Merrill Raschein reacted:

“As Chair of the Florida Council on Arts and Culture I was certainly surprised by the veto, mainly because the projects that are considered for this particular source of funding are run through a very rigorous vetting process by experts in the arts and culture scene, a process that is extremely accountable and transparent. That being said, we are aggressively working on determining why there was a veto so that we can more purposely advocate in the future and perhaps prevent this from happening again. The arts are an integral thread in the beautiful tapestry that is the state of Florida.”  

Says Elizabeth Young, Executive Director of the Florida Keys Council of the Arts:

“It’s extremely unfortunate that one person has the power to affect so many creative people in our State with the stroke of a pen. But that is exactly what happened- the Governor sent a clear message to the artists and cultural communities in Florida that he does not support the Arts. We, in Monroe County, will seek solutions and funding for our arts programming in spite of this ridiculous decision.”

Veto Has Local Impact, So, Expect To Be Asked To Help

Here’s what Michael Gieda, Executive Director of the Key West Art & Historical Society had to say about this:

“The governor’s veto of statewide arts and culture funding is a gross, shortsighted misstep that will detrimentally impact local not-for-profits. The Key West Art and Historical Society’s exhibitions, programs, educational outreach, and special events are funded in-part by the Division of Arts and Culture’s General Program Support grant. While there is currently no plan to reduce the scope of programming, the Society will have to pull funding from other areas of the operation to ensure our offerings move forward as planned for the coming fiscal year. Cultural tourism is a major part of Florida’s tourist industry, so this veto is economically foolish and harms not-for-profits throughout Monroe County. I encourage everyone to support our local cultural institutions through becoming a member or making a charitable donation.”

Jed Dodds of The Studios was quick to ask his members for help saying:

“Like most arts nonprofits, The Studios already operates with a lean budget, and a hit like this is a significant one for all of us – especially coming with so little notice….  if you do have the capacity to give a little more to support the arts in your community – be it a theater, museum or art center – now would be a very good time.”

Mimi McDonald, Managing Director of Red Barn Theatre told us:

“When granting sources like the Division of Arts & Culture loose funding that is so crucial to arts organizations like us, then it becomes incumbent upon the private sector to step up their support. Which I believe is not fair for them, nor is it sustainable in the long run.”

The Arts Help Separate Key West from Other Warm Weather Destinations

Key West has lots of advantages, chief among them great weather, restaurants and beautiful waters. But lots of places throughout Florida, the Caribbean and countries near our southern border can say the same. What truly separates us from everyone else is our culture and history.

Arts and literature have long drawn people to Key West. From Hemmingway to Elizabeth Bishop, to Tennessee Williams to today’s writers, artists, musicians and theaters. It is a cornerstone of Key West culture that makes us unique. Especially for such a small town as there’s more creativity per square mile here than nearly anywhere.

The loss of this money means all of these, mostly downtown, nonprofits which already run on a shoestring, will be doing further belt-tightening. And all of them will need your support this coming season because organizations like these are critical to our economy. So as Jed said above: “If you do have the capacity to give a little more to support the arts in your community – be it a theater, museum or art center – now would be a very good time.” Please join these organizations. Volunteer. Donate. Buy a full-price ticket. And tell your state legislators and Governor that the arts are worth investing in. We all win when the arts flourish.

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A Father’s Gift of Time

Posted on June 16, 2024     Leave a Comment

After a two-month battle with Covid and pneumonia last summer my 88-year-old Dad, Robert Hamilton passed away on September 22. As Father’s Day approaches,  for the first time I won’t be picking out a card, sending lobster rolls and a blueberry pie or visiting. So, this year I’m paying tribute by sharing the insert (below) I put in a card for Father’s Day in 2022. I was lucky to find he’d saved it. If your Dad is alive, make sure he knows how you feel. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, here and in heaven.

“Time

Happy Father’s Day Dad!

I sent you a card that said something like one of the greatest gifts you gave me was the gift of your time. I really wanted to pick a funny card out. Something with a beer or lawnmower or dog. But I settled for this boring card because I had recently been thinking about just that subject. Time.

So, I should have written this inside the card, but I’m kinda wordy and it wouldn’t have fit. And my handwriting these days, as you know, is pretty awful, so I’m jotting my thoughts down here.

It goes without saying that Mom’s give much of their time. But our society being what it is, especially when I was growing up, it was less likely that a father had time to give. And that when he was home, he’d spend it with the kids rather than himself. Ward Cleaver seemed to spend more time with his newspaper than with Wally and the Beaver. But not you. My recollection is that you were always willing to spend time with us kids. For that I feel lucky, grateful, and loved.

From simple things like when it was raining, you were willing to be late for work so you could give us a ride in the car to the bus stop and wait for the bus to pull up to take us to school.

Another seemingly simple thing was the hours you’d spend on weekend mornings watching cartoons with us and silly movies like Tarzan. You seemed to enjoy Bullwinkle and Boris and Natasha as much as us. It made it fun having our Dad as a co-conspirator in the silliness. To top it off you’d often cook something special like pancakes.

Whether we really wanted to or not you and Mom rightly thought it best that we participate in team sports. So, baseball and basketball it was. You spent countless hours playing catch or hoops and taking us to the fields and courts and then watching us at our games. You even volunteered to coach. What I also clearly recall is that you had no problem admitting maybe this wasn’t exactly your forte’ either. And off you’d go to the library to get a book with us on beginner’s baseball or how to shoot a basketball. No Google or YouTube to show us the way back then. You’d take the time to digest this stuff and then help teach us. Perhaps you were teaching yourself too? That was cool. And you taught us that the library was our friend – and thus a lifelong fondness for books and reading.

Perhaps other stuff came easier to you. Math, homework for example. Much as we hated it, you always had time for homework. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table. My mind would phase out of listening and I recall having to will my mind to pay attention, pay attention, pay attention, lest I fall asleep – or worse yet disappoint you because well if YOU could take the time for MY homework, how could I not pay attention, even though I hated it and was lost.

I seem to recall you didn’t have much of a problem letting us observe, emphasis on observing, when you were doing models, but I don’t recall having the acumen or patience for doing these myself. But I did love the miniaturization of this stuff. And we were just talking about some of the models a month ago on our visit. Were Pat and Carey (my brothers) good at this?

I recall you taking the time to work with us on Cub scouts and the cool soap box derby racers and the correct placement of the fishing weights inside to make it zoom down the track.

Cars were your thing and I do recall you trying to teach us our way around a car and a car engine. I felt bad for having no desire to learn a clutch, which you and Mom were both so proud of knowing how to do. And even less interest in learning my way around an engine and replacing the oil and stuff. Of course, not learning these things would come back to haunt me as I’d ignore doing basic maintenance and consequently the car would break down and I’d have to call you to come get me or get me a tow. And then pay to fix it too.

You were patient with trying to teach us to fish. I think Mom had more luck teaching us to crab, well it is more fun. I remember our little fishing reels. LOL.

Gardening and grass cutting. Okay, maybe the grass cutting was needed, but I learned to love learning about plants from you and it cultivated a life-long love of working in the garden and harvesting herbs.

I also recall stargazing. You’d offer to look up and observe the night sky and you seemed to know constellations and other things. I still pretend to know a little of that stuff.

And of course, there were the ballgames. I know this wasn’t exactly your thing. Which made it even more remarkable that you’d take me to baseball and football games. My fondest recollection was a Monday Night Football game with the Redskins in Baltimore. It was raining the whole time. Traffic was a nightmare. And yet you and Uncle Jimmy and maybe Grandad too, took me to the game in enemy territory. And once I had my own season tickets, I fondly recall that you very nicely accompanied me to many games as I often couldn’t find people who wanted to go – I know, imagine that. I still remember the NFC Championship game we went to with the Redskins hanging on to win and me and you trying to open a bottle of snuck in champagne as the clock ticked down.

As I got older and left the house you were there for every move with a U-Haul and your back to move furniture and boxes. Again, there’s that taking the time thing.

I’m sure I’ve left a lot out, but these are just a few examples to help fill in the card and emphasize that as I remember it, you were always willing to spend time with us and so, well, I wanted you to know that it is appreciated and say thank you!

Perhaps it is all the more remarkable, given that maybe your father didn’t exactly set the same example for you.

There are so many things that you, and Mom, have and continue to give us and that’s too much to go into here. Time is just one of those amazing gifts. My brothers and I are lucky. We know it.

Much love,

Chris”

Progress On Seven Projects Equals Big Wins for Our Downtown, Even If It Is On Key West Time

Posted on June 7, 2024     Leave a Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on June 7, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Earlier this week the City broke ground on construction to restore Clinton Square Park at Front and Whitehead Streets in front of the historic Custom House. While the project was to have broken ground in December of 2022, what’s 18 months or so among friends. In fact, during the ceremony, Commissioner Jimmy Weekley noted this has been in the works since his election in 1985. We’re all on Key West or island time after all, and the good news is we’re getting a new and improved pocket park. This event reminds us, that even taking Key West time into account, outgoing Mayor Teri Johnston, the City Commission, former City Manager Patti McLaughlin, current City Manager Albert Childress, and Planning Director Katie Halloran have managed to put together a series of big construction and planning wins for our downtown recently.

In addition to Clinton Square Park, there were groundbreakings on 126-units of workforce housing at The Lofts of Bahama Village and the brand new Frederick Douglass Community Center in September. The long-discussed Duval Street Revitalization & Resiliency planning effort finally got off the ground and already has had  two well-attended public meetings in January and April of this year. After more than two years of public process there’s a final draft of the Mallory Square Master Plan. And staff is currently writing an RFP to solicit development of the Historic Diesel Plant. That’s six wins in short order.

Let’s not forget recent bike/ped improvements on United and South Streets and pedestrian upgrades near the Seaport too. Win. Win. But wait, there’s more. Following up on the success of the Duval Street Pocket Park in 2019, where a hybrid pedestrian plaza replaced car parking directly on the beach, the City just announced it is holding a public meeting on June 13 to discuss making the Southernmost Point buoy area into a plaza that’s better for pedestrians and moving vehicles while addressing safety and standing water issues. Another potential win in the making. (Note: The day after we published this story the meeting was canceled because of a conflict with Commissioner Lopez’ community meeting and it has not been rescheduled.)

All of these construction projects and planning efforts, taken together are very positive momentum for our downtown as they will add more life, locals, prosperity and resiliency to our main street corridor and surrounding historic district. We credit the wins to current City leaders for using a tenacious strategic plan process to help push forward projects that for years, and in some cases decades, languished in the never never land of island time. So, kudos to the people at City Hall. Following up on our last story about these projects at the end of 2022, let’s look at brief updates on seven of these wins below (we discussed the United and South and Seaport wins more recently)…

Win #1 – Mallory Square

The most far along of the planning efforts is the “Celebration at Mallory Square Master Plan” as the Planning Department hired an architectural design firm in 2021 to develop a long-range master plan for redeveloping Mallory Square and the Sunset Celebration. After tons of community meetings and input a Vision Plan was developed. Our favorite summaries of this part of the effort are Linda Grist Cunningham’s “Key West’s Mallory Square: What Happens When History, Nostalgia and Cash Collide?” September 24, 2002, and “Mallory Square: Let’s Mix and Match the Design Options” December 27, 2022.

And then another round of community meetings were held and a survey of over 2,000 residents was done to refine the plan from two major concepts. One was embraced by two thirds of the survey participants in 2023. And viola’ there is now a draft Master Plan document that includes the square and surrounding area. The Planning Department is conducting analyses on Mallory Square revenue, parking and mobility opportunities together with subcontractors. The final draft is being reviewed by HARC, the Planning Board and the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board before being presented to the City Commission soon.  (City project site here.)

Win #2 – The Lofts of Bahama Village

The Lofts of Bahama Village also known as the 3.2 project (because it sits on 3.2 acres of formerly U.S. Government owned land), got its master’s degree and doctorate in Key West time as the project has been talked about since the 1980s. But after many fits and starts (this seems to be a theme for these plans doesn’t it?) there finally was a groundbreaking ceremony on September 14 of last year. Construction is already moving along nicely. When completed, the Lofts, managed by A.H. Monroe, will bring 126 units of affordable workforce rentals and condos to downtown. More residents living downtown is a good win because it helps locals save money by biking, walking and using transit and we’ve written about the project here, here and here. (City project site here.)

Win #3 – Frederick Douglass Community Center

Across the street from the Loft’s is yet another project that’s been on island time as the City and various groups have been batting around ideas for renovating or rebuilding this long-time Bahama Village neighborhood gym for a very, very long time. But on September 8, 2023, ground was broken on a brand new Frederick Douglass Community Center that will incorporate the gym, after-school tutoring program, Bahama Village Music Program and the District 6 City Commissioner’s office and add services for an early childhood education program, a fitness center, meeting spaces and a resource center. Construction is moving along briskly and should be complete in mid-2025. (City Project Site here under the Buildings heading and here’s a time lapse video of the construction through this March here.)

Win #4 – Duval Street Resiliency & Revitalization

We’ve been writing about this (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) since at least 2019 when the Planning Department first released an RFQ to find a planning firm to renovate and revitalize Duval Street, which hadn’t had a major investment in its infrastructure in 40+ years. Key West time, being its own force of nature, there were lots of fits and starts to this project until it finally and officially got started in earnest with a massively attended public kick-off meeting on January 31.

The focus of the project, now called Duval4All or the Duval Street Revitalization and Resiliency Project, is to protect and make the Duval Street infrastructure and its historic buildings resilient in the face of climate change, rising sea levels and weather events. And then to piggyback on that investment with any changes the community wants in revitalization projects like benches, trees, water fountains, art, signage, and wider sidewalks and other pedestrian enhancements.

At an April 4 Workshop of business owners and local residents a ton of data was released to provide context for the community about making future decisions and input was gathered on preserving buildings; green infrastructure; and streetscape, functional issues, people and traffic.

Up next is to break the work down by “character district” as each has unique infrastructure needs. The four districts are Front to Eaton, Eaton to Olivia, Olivia to Catherine and Catherine to South. The City and its contractor will be reaching out soon to hold meetings with representatives in each district. (City project site here.)

Win #5 – Clinton Square Park

In August of 2022 the City Commission was presented (video and PowerPoint slides) with the history of and plans to rehabilitate the long neglected square and streets around it. The obelisk monument at its center was erected in 1866 by the Navy to honor those fallen in the Civil War. A small iron fence surrounding the large obelisk was installed by R. Vining Harris to memorialize the loss of Confederate soldiers during the war. During the Civil War, Key West remained a Union outpost, despite the fact that the rest of Florida seceded and joined the Confederacy. Plans include restoration of these two existing monuments, enhanced access, new poinciana trees for shade, lighting and inviting spots to rest. Construction will begin shortly. (City project site here under the Community Projects heading.)

Win #6 – Historic Diesel Plant

The former Keys Energy Diesel Plant, a complex of five decaying building in Bahama Village near the entrance to the Truman Waterfront Park and adjacent to The Lofts was built in the 1880’s. Yes, hard as it is to believe, wink, this project has gone through ups and downs and plenty of Key West time. It sat abandoned for decades and then the Key West Art and Historical Society won a bid to redevelop it in 2019 to use as a multi-use cultural facility only to relent and say uncle when COVID hit as they were just trying to keep their own properties afloat. In 2021 the Rams Head Group offered to take it off the City’s hands in exchange for putting in a microbrewery, multi-use flex space, walking museum, outdoor courtyard & playground, culinary & brewing programs and a coffee shop. Their presentation was so well received a couple commissioners were ready to accept it on the spot. Alas, the City decided to instead put out an RFP to solicit developers and, in the meantime, stabilized the buildings. Right now, the City’s Planning Department is writing the RFP which is expected to be released in December 2024. (City project site here under the Buildings heading.)

Potential Win #7 – Southernmost Point Plaza

(Note, the day after we published this story the City canceled the meeting because of a conflict with Commissioner Lopez’ community meeting and has not been rescheduled) The Southernmost Point Plaza Project Community Meeting scheduled for 5:30 pm at City Hall on June 13 could be the start of another win for our downtown. The project comes about as the City’s Engineering Department has received a $1 million dollar grant from the TDC to improve and enhance the area around the Southernmost Point buoy as the buoy, benches, sidewalks and drainage facilities were damaged during Hurricane Ian. The grant would help fix these and address traffic difficulties, standing water and visitor overflow into the street. Here’s how the City’s website describes the intent of the project:

“The project would incorporate a one-way limited traffic flow pattern and incorporate resilience and sustainability strategies that address climate considerations, sea-level rise, increased shade, and increased bio-habitats while continuing to accommodate the needs of adjacent residential and commercial properties. The plaza would provide more space for pedestrians and improve the experience for the large crowds that visit daily.  The improvements at the Southernmost Point are prepared for a complete street concept that would support three of the Key West Forward Strategic Plan priorities: Priority 2: Sea Level Rise; Priority 3: Roads and Sidewalks; Priority 6: Traffic and Pedestrian Friendliness.”

 Neighboring businesses and residents are already receiving the project very positively. We all should. The entire project could cost as much as $4 million dollars and the City anticipates going back to the TDC for more financial help. (City project site here.)

These 7 Projects Wins Are Good for Downtown and Thus Key West

In our update on these projects in 2022, the Mayor said:

“We are enhancing our public spaces for our residents and guests alike so that we can continue to be a quality community and a world class destination.”

Indeed. And Paul J. Menta owner of the Key West First Legal Rum Distillery and leader of the Shop Mom & Pop Key West group said:

“Keeping locals living locally in Key West (at the Lofts) has many advantages such as it keeps the local economy going as they buy at Mom-and-Pop type places, they have options to bike or bus to work, and they add to the ambiance of Key West by having locals walking around with tourists. Sounds funny, but when you travel you want to shop and eat where the locals are!”

Exactly. The convergence of these projects all coming together now will have a multiplier effect. More locals. More great public places for locals and visitors to gather. A more resilient, better functioning and nicer to look at main street, parks and plazas. All point toward a better future for our little historic downtown and that’s good for Key West and the Florida Keys. Let’s not let these efforts succumb to the naysayers, whatabouters, NIMBYS and leave-it-aloners, nor the ravages of Key West or island time. Let’s instead support leaders that support getting these projects done and help secure a better future for Key West.

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A New Transit Service Is Coming This Summer. Our Workforce Needs It and Much More Transit Up and Down the Keys

Posted on May 24, 2024     Leave a Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life May 24, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

NOTE: Here’s an update on this story: Conch Connect – A New County Sponsored On-Demand Micro-Transit Begins Serving Key West and Stock Island July 15, July 12, 2024; NOTE: Another related article here: City’s Expands “Work Force Express” Bus Route and Potentially Ruins It In the Process July 5, 2024

We’ve all heard some version of a now familiar lament about how our workers can no longer afford to live on the island of Key West and have no other option but to get in a car and drive into town and then find a parking space for work. The additional employees on U.S. Route 1, along with the increasing number of visitors driving here clogs our roads and make everyone unhappy. It also sparks competition and annoyance between downtown residents, visitors and workers for scarce parking.

Employees tell us they have no other option than to drive. And given the infrequent nature of current transit options, they’re right. A little help is on the way later this summer in the form of a new County five-vehicle on-demand micro-transit service rolling out on Stock Island and Key West called “Conch Connect.” But we need to do a whole lot more if we expect to really meet the needs of our increasingly beleaguered workforce and give them a frequent, trustworthy and viable option to the expense of driving. And we need the County and the City to work together. Let’s explore what’s happening…

More of Us Live Up the Keys So More of Us Drive to Get to Work

According to historical trends provided by the Key West Chamber, while the population of Key West has remained relatively stable over the last 40 or so years going from 24,382 in 1980 to 26,444 in 2020, the County’s population continues to increase every decade from 63,188 in 1980 to 82,873 in 2020. We’ve written about how in the 1970’s and 80’s (here and here) people have anecdotally shared that back then things were simpler, more people lived on the island, and they walked and biked to work. That’s very different from today where, after housing, traffic congestion has remained a top concern and data shows tens of thousands of cars arrive on our little island every week.

While we weren’t able to get more recent data, according to the 2019 Key West Transit Development Plan, in 2015 one third (1/3) of those working on the island commuted into Key West from Stock Island and beyond. And interestingly, one third (1/3) of employed Key West residents commuted off island for work too. We think most folks would agree that in the nine years since that data point that even more people are commuting in to Key West from points beyond the island and vice versa (witness the new hotels) as we’ve talked about over 800 new housing units constructed or in the pipeline on Stock Island and the Lower Keys in just the past few years.

There’s a Reason Nobody Commutes By Bus – Lack of Service

The City’s Lower Keys Shuttle bus between Marathon and downtown Key West is anticipated to provide more than 100,000 rides for the first time since 2019 before the pandemic. That’s good news. But according to the U.S. Census only one half of one percent (0.5%) of Monroe County residents use public transit to get to work. So, in reality that number isn’t the good news it’s touted to be because it’s such a small drop in the bucket.. And there’s a reason that anybody with access to a vehicle doesn’t commute by bus. A lack of frequent service at convenient hours.

The Lower Keys Shuttle has just 10 trips from Marathon to Key West per day and 10 trips back. There’s approximately 90 to 120 minutes between trips and the last bus leaves Key West outbound before 8 pm. The new Workforce Express that debuted last June and goes from Stock Island to downtown via a straight shot along Flagler and N. Roosevelt only has four inbound trips a day in the morning and four back in the late afternoon. FOUR. With such infrequent service no one can really depend upon taking the bus for work, let alone shopping and play. And as the data shows, the result is, nobody does.

Until the frequency increases on the Lower Keys Shuttle and the Work Force Express to every 30 minutes or better and the span of service goes until very late at night, if not 24 hours, workers won’t be lured from their cars, no matter the hassles with traffic and parking.

More Frequent Transit Can Help Workers Overall Affordability

Providing workers with a frequent, reliable and trustworthy option to get to work besides driving isn’t just about helping with road congestion and downtown parking problems. Owning, operating and insuring a car is expensive. In fact, AAA says in Florida the average sits above $11,000 annually. While our agreed upon number one issue is affordable housing, when you realize that every adult in the Lower Keys needs a car to get anywhere, adding the cost of getting around to housing just makes life’s overall affordability all the worse.

What if each adult in a family could instead rely on a frequent and easy-to-use transit system to get to work and some of life’s other activities? Perhaps that family could go car-lite and get rid of one car, saving thousands of dollars every year. Imagine if they could go car-free? And the connection between transit, housing and overall affordability is another reason why perhaps the TDC could use some funds to assist the County and the City on transit.

New County “Conch Connect” Freebee Micro-Transit Service Is a Hopeful Start

Richard Clark, who is almost two years into his position as the County’s Executive Director of Transit told us this week that to get something started and begin to relieve pressure on Key West Transit that:

“We have awarded an on-demand, micro-transit service contract to Freebee. The service will be branded as “Conch Connect”.  This service will start in July and will cost $2 per trip. The service area is Stock Island – Key West. It is a curb to curb service. You will begin to see marketing efforts in the coming weeks.”

He further explained that Conch Connect will start with five electric Tesla vehicles, one of which will be ADA accessible with each accommodating up to four passengers. They will be wrapped and branded so people recognize them too. And did we mention the marketing? We appreciate the County recognizes what the City doesn’t regarding the need to brand the new vehicles and market them, because we’re still verklempt the City refuses to brand the Duval Loop buses or any of their other services, nor do any marketing.

Freebee is already operating a similar service for the Village of Islamorada. It will work similarly to the Key West Rides on-demand transit service, or like an Uber. But the Conch Connect and Key West Rides systems are not interoperable, so you’ll have to choose to use one or the other system. The exact hours of the service and how people will pay is still being fleshed out.

Why Would the County Operate a Similar Service to Key West Transit?

So, if you are following along, the natural question is why would the County start a service that is just like the City’s Key West Rides on-demand service?

Mr. Clark explains that the County has long-range plans for transit throughout the Keys, but they’ve got to start somewhere, and Stock Island and Key West are underserved, and this is a simple program that they can begin right away with minimal effort and capital start-up. The hope is that people, especially on Stock Island, will use these more appropriately sized vehicles and that will lessen the need for Key West Transit to use its bigger vehicles for on-demand service between Stock Island and Key West. Maybe Key West Transit could even end the Rides on-demand service on Stock Island. As more people choose Conch Connect, Key West Transit could then switch buses now serving on-demand customers and potentially add service to the Workforce Express and even the Lower Keys Shuttle where it makes way more sense to use the larger vehicles.

Key West Transit’s Response to the New Conch Connect Service

Initially we asked Key West Transit for their thoughts on the Work Force Express and Lower Keys Shuttle’s future. As we found out about the County’s plans for a new service beginning in July we followed up and asked how the County’s new service may affect their services and if this was indeed an opportunity to redeploy buses from on-demand to the regular routes. Here’s Rod Delostrinos, Key West Transit Director’s reply:

“As I am not sure of the length or scope of work of the county’s contract with Freebee, implementing a service change to the Lower Keys Shuttle or any of our services based on an entity I do not have operational oversight could cause service issues. There is a deliberate process when making major service changes requiring analysis to avoid disparate impact and disproportionate burden. That being said I am excited to see how the County could assist in mitigating transportation issues.  

The City of Key West is committed to improving our Transit services. For the past year, we have been analyzing the Work Force Express and hope to adjust this service to be more responsive to the public.  We hope the changes will migrate more workers to this route and help rebalance the on-demand service.”

Mr. Delostrinos goes on to say:

“Preliminary reports from FDOT state that the Key West Intermodal Center feasibility study will conclude in about 30 days.  A favorable recommendation is the key to moving forward with seeking funding for the design and construction.”  

The proposed, and talked about for decades Intermodal Center, complete with parking garage on Stock Island, could be a game changer. Especially for downtown traffic congestion and parking woes, if visitors can indeed be convinced to leave their cars and be ferreted downtown from there. It could also act as a hub for micro-transit and bikes on Stock Island to get downtown. It is a very exciting project.

It is good to hear the City is looking into improvements on the Work Force Express and analyzing FDOT’s Intermodal Center feasibility study. They are also in the middle of updating their Transit Development Plan (long-range plan) last updated in 2019. But it doesn’t exactly sound like they plan on shifting service from on-demand to the Work Force Express and Lower Keys Shuttle in the near future, does it?

Other Investments – Bus Stops Along Lower Keys Shuttle

City officials tell us they are in the final stages of completing a two-year, mostly grant-funded “Final Mile” construction project to upgrade all the bus stops along the Lower Keys Shuttle route. Each stop has or is in the process of getting new bike racks or lockers so people can get to the stops along the Overseas Highway more easily, lights, trash and recycle bins, and map and schedule information. They are even installing 17 bike fix-it stations to help the bike-to-transit connection.

Future County Investments – More On-Demand and Maybe Ferry Service?

The County’s Executive Director of Transit tells us:

“We have applied to U.S. DOT for a grant to acquire 30 fully electric 13+-passenger Ford Transit Vans (5 of which will be wheelchair accessible). This includes 30 low speed chargers and 10 high speed chargers. If/when awarded, the service would be on-demand and run in local/geographic areas throughout all of the keys. Essentially, local service that operates as on-demand. Again, $2 per trip.

I am also working on a Ferry Planning Grant for inter-island service running from Key West, Marathon, Islamorada and Key Largo. This is the first step to see how feasible walk-on, passenger ferry service would be.”

He also mentioned that these Ford vans and the Tesla sedans they’ll be starting with on Stock Island are small enough that they don’t require a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) and so make it easier to find drivers.

Eventually 30-Minute Service On the Overseas Highway

Richard Clark says he’d eventually like to get to a seamless, homogeneous transit system where you know you are in Monroe County from the branding of all of the different size vehicles on down to the bus stops. He shares this video to demonstrate that vision.

He says that today, on a given day, that together Key West Transit’s Lower Keys Shuttle between Key West and Marathon and the Miami-Dade Route 301 Monroe Express between Florida City and Marathon there could be seven to nine buses. He says to serve this corridor on 30-minute frequency, which they’d like to do, he’d need at least 22 buses every day and preferably 30 for spares and breakdowns. Hmmm…that’s a lot of buses.

The Future Should See One Seamless Transit System for the Keys

Given Mr. Clark’s vision we’d imagine eventually seeing big commuter buses serving the length of the Overseas Highway with 30 minute mainline service supplemented by on-demand Freebee vans in the communities along the highway, including Key West,  for short trips. Perhaps extra vans between the Lower Keys, especially Stock Island and Key West on simple straight shot routes to provide workforce service in-between those 30-minute intervals. And then of course the Duval Loop to whisk visitors and workers around downtown.

At that point we may see a whole new family of Conch Connect transit services operated by a joint County/City transit authority or something like that. All coordinated and branded and marketed as one easy to use system that gives people frequent and real, viable options to having to drive a car. That’s what we should strive for. And that’s why City and County leaders need to get creative on funding improvements. Perhaps with TDC money for capital and a toll on visitors to fund operating?

Business Leader Paul J. Menta On How To Get There

We reached out to Paul J. Menta, owner of Key West Legal Rum and Distillery and leader of the influential Shop Mom & Pop Key West (website and Facebook Business Group) because his thoughtful and collaborative takes on issues has the ear of City and County leaders. Paul agreed on the need for more and better transit and outlined a process for getting there. He said:

“A better bus system for the workforce is a perk that the City and the County can offer to its residents to get to work and make their job easier. With high rents, transportation becomes an issue. With more traffic building up, this is a huge bonus to workers and to businesses because we can get them from their home to their place of work without adding any stress for them, which makes their job easier and makes their quality of life better and I don’t think that’s being accomplished here at all.

I commend having a workforce bus system. The schedule times are a bit spread out and the drop off points are pretty off of some main business areas. For example, if I take the bus from Stock Island and I work on lower Duval, I do have to walk a fair amount to get there, especially if there’s weather or at the end of the day and it’s really hot or in the evening. Also understand that Stock Island has a lot of work places and so does Big Coppitt and areas above there as well.

By talking to the businesses all over town and potentially doing a survey of them and the workers one could find the big concentrations people need to get to. You also need to talk to the people that are taking the workforce buses and ask how they feel about it where they would like to go if there are any adjustments.

I think as we are going to have a new mayor and commissioners, there is going to be a need for a lot of communication as a lot of new people will be working on stuff and if the City, the community and the business community are all talking in the same place instead of only on Facebook, but at the City, we can really fine-tune this and turn it into something. That’ll be extremely useful and help ease the burden for employees to get around the island and get to their jobs and make businesses prosper. I look forward to all of us working together to make this positive and not sitting on Facebook and saying what’s wrong but actually getting together and coming up with solutions and making things work. All the way around that is going to be the key to make this type of thing work.”

Amen Paul! Amen.

Let’s Encourage the County and City to Work Together to Get This Done

We’ve been down this path before of having nice plans that seem to go nowhere. So it is good news the County is beginning to get involved in transit and this is a nice little start. The City/Key West Transit and County need to work together on building better transit options because our residents and workers increasingly live and work in more spread out places that cross jurisdictional lines. Our workers in particular need frequent, easy and reliable options to the high costs of owning and operating a vehicle, especially because our rent is so high. And we’ll emphasize that City and County leaders need to get creative and invest in this vision and strongly consider how our ever growing pot of TDC and visitor tax money can be used to get this done.

The vision of a future that includes a seamless, frequent, easy-to-understand and well-coordinated transit system throughout the entire County is the right one. And Paul’s absolutely right. We need everyone talking together in a positive collaboration. Accomplishing this will help ease our workforce’s burden, take cars off our congested main road, reduce parking conflicts downtown, help clean our environment, assist our local Mom & Pop Shops be more prosperous and make our island chain paradise healthier and happier too.

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Some other related articles:

• New “Workforce Express” Key West Transit Service Begins May 1 Between Stock Island and Bahama Village, May 3, 2023
• City to Begin Work On Making It Easy to Bike to Lower Keys Shuttle and Enhancing Bus Stops from Marathon to Key West, November 4, 2022
• Freebee On-Demand Ride-Hailing-to-Transit Might Provide Stock Island Residents With Reason to Leave Their Cars at Home, July 22, 2022
• Traffic Nightmare Looms as 132 New Housing Units Added to Over 700 in the Pipeline on Stock Island and Lower Keys, May 20, 2022
• Stock Island and Lower Keys Workforce Housing Needs Frequent Transit, March 11, 2022
• City to Make It Easier to Bike to the Lower Keys Shuttle Bus, August 20, 2021

Know a Good Spot for Bicycle Parking? There’s An App for That

Posted on May 3, 2024     Leave a Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life May 3, 2024. Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Ever get to your favorite bar, restaurant or destination and wonder why there is no bike rack there? Or perhaps the rack in front of where you work is always full. Maybe you own or work at a local Mom & Pop Shop and want to attract more customers realizing for every car parking space in front, you could instead have 12 bike parking spaces. More shoppers = ka-ching! Possibly the building you live in has Residential Permit car parking spaces on the street, but nary a bike rack in sight. Or it could be that you are just tired of all the bikes on a certain block being locked up to trees, poles, and fences. Well, did you know, there’s an app to request bicycle parking?

It’s part of the City’s “Key West Connect” app available for Apple and Android devices and usable as a web interface too. And if you just take a few minutes and use it, you’ll be helping the City get their increasing inventory of bike parking on our streets more quickly and in the right places. Everybody wins.

The City Is Indeed Installing More Racks and You Can Help Direct Where They Go

If you follow the City’s official government and Car-Free Key West Facebook pages, you may have noticed a pattern over the last year plus as they post almost monthly a nice picture of a newly installed bike rack or even a bike corral (series of loop racks on rails). In 2022 they installed 125 parking spaces. In 2023 that jumped to 454 as it includes 136 that were funded by a “Final Mile” State grant to upgrade all Lower Keys Shuttle bus stops. So far in 2024 they’ve installed 75 spaces and hope to install another 100 including both “Post and Loop” style and the larger “Bike Corrals” or “Loop Racks On Rails” style. About a quarter of the installs are replacements with the majority being additional capacity, which now brings the total number of City provided bicycle parking spaces to 3,397 (May 1, 2024). And while the City assesses the needs on the street, Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski tell us that requests from citizens help staff make better decisions about where to install them and the locations are more likely to be prioritized and go in sooner as a result of a request.

Report Abandoned Bikes and Damaged Bike Racks Too

Key West Connect also allows you to let the City know about abandoned bikes and damaged bike racks. Everyone wins when abandoned bikes are removed and a mangled or vandalized bike rack is repaired.

How To Use Key West Connect

The City’s Key West Connect app (powered by SeeClickFix) helps residents reach the City online or via their smartphone or tablet to request services or help fix issues. You can use it for trash, recycling, yard waste, potholes, sidewalk issues, lights, trees, signs, code compliance and more. And for people on bikes you can Request a Bicycle Rack, Report an Abandoned Bicycle or Report Maintenance on a Bicycle Rack.

On Apple devices you can download the free app at the Apple App Store or on an Android device download it at the Google Play Store. From the app:

• Go to the bottom and hit the + sign that says, “New Request.”
• Next, you’ll be asked to share a picture or not.
• Then you’ll choose a location on the map. There’s an X in the middle so simply move the map to the desired location. The top window should show the address.
• Hit the next button at the top and now choose your category – the are listed alphabetically so Abandoned Bicycle, Bicycle Rack Maintenance and Bicycle Rack Request are right at the top.
• On the last screen you’ll see your picture, if you uploaded one – highly recommended, and you can then add additional text information and a rationale.
• Hit submit at the top right and you’re done!

At the bottom of the app is a “Requests” button. This is where you can see other requests and issues people have submitted. You can also create a profile and do much more.

Crowded Downtown Sidewalks Should Be for People – So Be Specific and Request a Bike Corral in a Car Parking Space 😉

Many of the recent bicycle parking installs, at least if the pictures posted on Facebook are an accurate depiction, have been put on sidewalks. As we’ve documented, our mostly narrow downtown sidewalks are already overcrowded with people. And in some spaces with chairs and tables. Our good friend and chronicler of the Key West condition via Key West Island News Linda Grist Cunningham has made similar observations that sidewalks should be for people.

Why are we putting bike parking and tables and chairs along with signs, newspaper boxes, and poles on our narrow sidewalks and making an overcrowded situation worse? Because we seem to value private car storage for the few over pleasant walking space for the many. As we put in more bike parking, we should insist it go in the street in bike corrals and you should please say so in your request.

Let’s Put More Parking In Bike Corrals On the Streets In Predictable Places

A bike corral can accommodate 12 bikes in the space of 1 car. We’ve made the case that not only should bike parking be in the street, but that along the entire length of Duval it should be located in the first car parking space in each cross street. And the next space should be for scooters. The consistency attracts users, and it helps intersection sight lines. This isn’t some crazy bike advocates’ idea. This is actually the idea of the City’s Parking Director. We’ve noticed a few like this but could use way more.

Every retail shop or group of shops all over Old Town should have an in-street bike corral and scooter parking right out front or adjacent to it. We’d fit 12 bikes and 6 scooters in the space of 2 cars. That’s a win for everyone and good for business. So again, when you Request Bicycle Parking, please be specific. Let the City know where there’s a good car-parking space to replace with bike parking.

When We Make It Easier to Bike, Our Island Wins

Having a safe and reliable place to park your bicycle at work, shopping and play makes it easier and thus more likely more of us will use a bike to get around instead of driving a car. That helps fight traffic and parking congestion, improves our environment, makes us healthier, makes our historic downtown more prosperous for Mom and Pop Shops, and yes, makes us happier too. It makes our little island more like the paradise it should be. We all win when we make it easier to bike!

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Rebuild of United Street With New Bike Lane & Improved Pedestrian Safety Complete. South Street Is Next

Posted on April 19, 2024     Leave a Comment

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on April 19, 2024.  Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

Work has just wrapped up on a complete rebuild of United Street between Whitehead and Grinnell Streets downtown that incorporated FKAA water main upgrades and a $4.8 million investment in all new curb and gutter that includes narrower and safer pedestrian crossings, lots of new trees, fresh and smooth asphalt, and a brand spanking new, extra-width bike lane where none had existed before heading out of town that connects up with the Crosstown Greenway bike facility. Let’s repeat that. A brand new, wider is safer, bike lane! But wait, there’s more.

One street over, as FKAA’s utilities work is wrapping up on South Street between Duval and Reynolds Streets, the City is just beginning work on $3.5 million dollars in improvements that include new paving, drainage, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sidewalks, curb ramps and pavement markings, landscaping, and trees similar to what’s been done on United. And yes, pinch us because it is true, another wider than usual, brand new bike lane for the length of the project going into town where none existed before.

Upon South Street’s completion in about a year, the two new bike lanes will act similarly to the Fleming and Southard Street bike lane pair in getting people on bikes in and out of downtown and will help create more of a connected network of lanes that promote safer and easier riding. Mayor Johnston has been asking for these kinds of improvements and our more progressive Engineering Department under the leadership of Director Gary Volenec and Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski have been delivering the goods. Here are some of the details…

Isn’t It Lovely, Isn’t It Wonderful

Okay we admit maybe using Stevie Wonder’s words to describe a new street is a bit much, but when you look at pictures of United Street before the work, the after pictures are indeed quite nice. And in a town that reveres car-convenience and parking we’re pleased at a genuine complete streets approach that includes more trees, narrower and safer pedestrian crossings and bike lanes and bike racks that have a cumulative effect of helping to slow vehicle traffic down and thus making the street safer for all users.

Here’s how Mr. Stachurski describes the projects:

“With the completion of the United Street road work, the City has an improved roadway that seeks to meet the needs of all users within our constrained right-of-way. Not only do motorists get a good ride, but pedestrians and bicyclists do as well. Pedestrians will notice some safety improvements like big and bright crosswalks, smooth rolling curb ramps, colorful shade trees and palms. Bicyclists, electric bicyclists, and stand-up motorized scooter operators will have a place to ride heading out of town or toward the beach along the Crosstown Greenway bicycle route. Design elements reinforce the 20 MPH speed limit to encourage safe behavior and support our City’s Vision Zero goal. A lot of these design elements have been incorporated in the design for South Street that’s about to begin construction.

South Street, already popular with non-motorized traffic, has been designed to expand the bicycle infrastructure from Reynolds Street all the way down to Duval Street. South Street is the westernmost leg of the Crosstown Greenway bicycle route, and wayfinding signage will help to define it. The bicycle box at South St and Reynolds Street is slated to get upgraded to new Federal standards (MUTCD). (The bike box gives casual riders an opportunity to turn left even when there’s automobile traffic.) Finally, new trees are planned along with similar pedestrian improvements you see installed along United Street.”

This is all good news.

About That Bike Box

The island’s only bike box is on Reynolds at South Street. It is getting repainted and slightly reconfigured as part of this project. A bike box is a designated area at the head of a traffic lane at a signalized intersection that provides bicyclists with a safe and visible way to get ahead of queuing traffic during the red signal phase. This will help people on bikes in the right-side bike lane along Reynolds Street to make a safer left turn onto the soon-to-come bike lane going downtown on South Street.

This is a good idea and believe we could use more of these box boxes around town to make bicycling even safer.

Wider Is Better and Safer

The new United Street bike lane between Whitehead Street and Simonton Street, where it is adjacent to on-street parking, is about to 7’ feet wide to provide some buffer space for bicyclists from car doors. The parking stalls are narrow to encourage motorists to park close to the curb. Compare this to the 5’ feet wide bike lanes along Southard and Fleming Streets next to parked cars. Along the rest of United, the bike lane is 5’ feet wide as there is no parking.

Along South Street the upcoming inbound bike lane is designed to be 4’ wide with 2’ feet of buffer space (for a total of 6’). We’re told this is considered narrow for a door-zone bike lane by State minimum standards, but it’s larger than the 5’ width local bicyclists are familiar with along Southard and Fleming Streets.

So wider is safer and that’s better and it is indeed progress.

New Bike Lanes and Signage Enhance the Network Effect

There are many examples in Key West of pieces of bike trails and lanes that just end, leaving riders with no choice but to mix with cars, Southard Street being our most egregious example, often on our most crowded and busy streets. In surveys across the land, people say that the lack of a connected network of safe bicycle facilities to get them to work, shop and play, is what inhibits many people from riding a bike for transportation. The new United and South Street bike lanes will help better connect with a growing network on this side of town.

Another new feature is a bunch of new Crosstown Greenway signs posted along the new bike lane. We’re told that the City will continue to install these along the entirety of the Greenway so bicyclists will know the path. And if the bond referendum for infrastructure projects passes this fall there will be some money to do more signage and pavement markings around town.

The bike lanes map here shows the new United and South Streets pair connecting to the Reynolds Street bike lanes which take you to Higgs Beach and beyond that on the Atlantic Boulevard Trail to the Bertha Trail and onto the S. Roosevelt Promenade. So, this gets people safely from the beaches into downtown without having to mix with traffic. Similarly, those using the Crosstown Greenway from the top of the island at the Cow Key Channel will now be able to get downtown on a safe bike lane. Mr. Stachurski tells us that new signage (depicted by the red dots in the picture) will help orient people to various points along the safe bike network.

Mayor Johnston Finally Getting Her Wish For New Bike Lanes

If you’ve been following our column for the past few years, you know we’ve quoted Mayor Teri Johnston on numerous occasions consistently asking staff to find ways to put in more bike facilities (here, here, here, here, here, here and numerous others). She was understandably pleased when we asked her last year about this particular project then just getting underway, saying:

“Dedicated bicycle lanes are essential in Key West. It is the solution for taking bikes and e-bikes off of the sidewalk and into a safe, dedicated lane in the street. With some thoughtful planning we can accommodate the same number of on street parking spots, add a bicycle lane and create a better flow of vehicular traffic.”

While we wish it were more, given the recalcitrance of the previously car-centric staff, when the Mayor leaves office later this year, she can rightfully point to at least a few victories in promoting bicycle and pedestrian safety. And she’s set some good forward momentum, that hopefully the next Mayor and Commission will expand upon.

Better, Safer Bicycling = Better Key West

Key West is full of cars AND bikes and that’s different than most places. According to the U.S. Census 15% of Key West residents’ commute to work by bicycle. That’s a lot more than some of the top “bike” cities in the country. Key West bike rental companies continue to do a record business. So, there’s a lot of bikes and now e-bikes and e-scooters mixing with golf carts, scooters, and cars. As so many of these people on the street are visitors from car-centric mainland places, they aren’t used to this jumble of vehicle types and that’s a dangerous mix. And that is why we need a seamless, connected, and safe network of bike facilities. It also helps keep bikes off our crowded sidewalks.

The United and South Streets project represents progress toward that end. To make our little island a bicycle paradise that will help us fight traffic and parking congestion, improve our environment, and make us healthier, more prosperous, and happier too. Let’s applaud the Mayor and staff for moving the ball forward.

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New Data Makes Duval Street Revitalization More Concrete

Posted on April 12, 2024     2 Comments

By Chris Hamilton. Story is cross posted at KONK Life on April 12, 2024.  Follow us at  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown on Facebook.

About 75 people, attended the April 4 Duval Street Revitalization & Resiliency Project Workshop at the Gato Building on Simonton. Three quarters of the attendees were business owners who were queried in three separate interactive sessions about their opinions on building preservation, green infrastructure and streetscape/operational (think loading zones, trash, vehicles, etc.) issues. The big difference in this workshop versus the January 31 kickoff meeting, was the consultants started sharing a wealth of data they’ve been gathering to provide participants with context for future decisions. And the key data takeaway for me seemed to be the sheer number and prevalence of pedestrians from noonish until late at night on upper and especially lower Duval.

In a take on an old saying, what’s good for Duval Street is good for Key West, so we’re pleased the Duval Street Revitalization & Resiliency Project is focusing on our main street’s future well-being. Here’s what happened at the workshop.

Buildings & Preservation

While an overall goal of the project is to protect and make the corridor’s streets and sidewalks resilient in the face of rising seas and weather events, the team wants to help individual property owners tie into this and protect their buildings as well. Preservation strategies include backflow prevention, dry floodproofing, mechanical systems flood protection, wind mitigation, seepage and waterproofing, flood resistant building materials, utility & life-safety flood projection, wet floodproofing and ADA accessibility features. And doing all of this with the knowledge that we’re operating in one of North America’s most treasured historic districts.

The team in this room had an array of flood maps broken down by block segment and were able to immediately pull up characteristics of the address I was interested in – my employer Red Barn Theatre at 319 Duval Street. The very able consultants walked me through how the property met the street, it’s elevation and discussed the building’s age and type and potential future hardening schemes. And they were able to do this with each business that walked through the door.

Green Infrastructure

In the second room, attendees discussed green infrastructure. The heart of making the street resilient in the face of sea level rise and weather events will require significant reconstruction. On the one hand, the water can be handled via a “greyer” or centralized engineered system that pumps the water away and is more costly but introduces seemingly less change to the street.

A “greener” approach that handles the water more naturally where it falls via trees, bumpouts, bioswales, raingardens, planters, permeable pavements, and absorbent landscaping is less costly and requires less energy but does introduce more change to the way the street looks.

Streetscape, Functional Issues, People and Traffic

With either approach, replacing and improving the existing underground infrastructure along Duval will require significant streetscape removal and reconstruction. The City and project engineers tell us there are no pre-determined plans for how the street will look after reconstruction. The street could be put back together to look nearly identical to what it looks like today, or it could include some alterations. And that’s what attendees thought through in a series of exercises in room number three.

To undergird discussions with participants the consultants presented a few big data boards. The first, Duval Streets Existing Street Design shared that Duval Street has a fairly constant 50-foot right-of-way – building face to building face – from one end to the other. What changes is how this space is allocated to different uses, depending upon the block.

The next board shared Duval Street vehicle traffic data, saying that the street carries about 5,000 cars a day compared to 37,000 on N. Roosevelt and 15,000 at Eaton and White. (Click on the picture and zoom in to get more data.)

Go to https://duval4all.com/apr-4-workshop/ to see clean versions of all the boards.

But by far the most interesting board shared how people traveled – whether by car, bike truck, golf cart or on foot – on Duval by block segment and by time of day for every 15-minutes. Here’s one example: “In the evening, the Green-to-Caroline block carries as many as 3,700 people moving along the street in a single hour. However, 75 percent of these people are traveling by foot.”

Given this context, participants were asked, in what had to be the most fun and interactive exercise of the day, to design the street they thought should be put back out after construction. While most people didn’t eliminate vehicles, they did provide vehicles less space than there is today, and many considered more restrictions on vehicles in the late afternoons and evenings.

We promise to revisit this particular topic in a future article. Especially as people on foot represent about 75 percent of the traffic but are relegated to less than 25% of the available space. Fodder for another day…

Go to https://duval4all.com/apr-4-workshop/ to see all 28 submissions done at the workshop on April 4.

Leveraging Resiliency Construction Dollars for Revitalizing Duval

We’re lucky to have such a capable Planning Director in Katie Halloran overseeing the project and she personally engaged the attendees throughout the day. We were also happy to see the progressive Director of the Engineering Department, Gary Volenec involved and doing the same. We asked Jared Beck, the Stantec Project Manager what he thought after the event and here’s what he had to say:

“I am very pleased with the feedback gained from the workshop. We recognize nobody knows Duval Street better than those who interact with it day in and day out. Our goal of the workshop was to hear firsthand and better understand the nuances impacting businesses, property owners, and residents, and that’s exactly what we got. This will all be used as we have further discussions with business and property owners along Duval Street, and then develop preliminary concept plans for presentation and community review.”

We’ll repeat what we said at the top. What’s good for Duval Street is good for Key West and that’s why this project is so important. Money spent hardening Duval Street and the infrastructure below and around it to meet future challenges with sea level rise and weather events is the perfect time to address any enhancements to the street above, as these are pennies on the dollar when doing such big construction work. Our beloved little historic district’s main street will be all the better for our community participating thoughtfully and making the Duval Street Revitalization and Resiliency Project a success.

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More Information and Duval Street Revitalization Project History

For more information on the current planning effort visit https://duval4all.com/. And If you wan to go directly to the materials from the April 4 workshop click here. If you want to dive into the background and history of this project, here’s 11 stories we’ve done on it over the last five years:

• Project Seeks To Make Duval Street Resilient in Face of Sea Level Rise, February 4, 2024
• Progress on Five Historic District Projects Means More Life, Locals, Prosperity, and Resiliency for Our Downtown , October 21, 2022
• Mallory Sq., Diesel Plant, Duval Street and Bahama Village Housing Projects Create Synergy to Bolster Downtown, January 14, 2022
• Duval Street Revitalization Back on Track, October 1, 2021
• With the Duval Street Revitalization Plan Way Behind Schedule, Here’s 3 Quick Wins for Pedestrianizing Duval Street Now, July 16, 2021  
• Do Key West Commercial Areas Need Business Improvement Districts (BIDS)? – Part 2: What BIDS in Key West Might Look Like, April 23, 2021     
• Eight Things We Can Do to Pedestrianize Duval and Still Allow Cars, March 6, 2021 
• The Wee Donkey, Whataboutism, Bathwater and Duval Street’s Future, February 19, 2021 
• Duval Street Revitalization Moves Forward, June 10, 2020  
• Duval Street Revitalization Help Sought Via RFQ, December 10, 2020 
• Duval Street Revitalization Project Brings Hope to Downtown, December 28, 2020