Part 6 of report: New & improved bike/ped facilities--Sanibel

 This week BikeWalkLee released a comprehensive report on new and improved bike/ped facilities throughout Lee County.  The first part was an overview of the entire county.  In this part (Blog post #6) the report focuses on Sanibel.  Click here to read the full report.
 SANIBEL

Exhibit  from Lee MPO Countywide Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan, adopted May 2011 (2010 data )

Note:  bike/ped facilities are shown in linear miles vs. lane miles and only include arterial and collectors.

New and improved bike/ped facilities on all public roadways in Sanibel: 2011-13

(in lane miles, i.e., both sides of bike lanes and sidewalks are counted)

Year	New Wayfinding	Conver. to bike lanes (2 sides)	New on-road bike facil . (2 sides )	New shared use paths	New sidewalks (both sides counted)	Improved bike/ped (e.g. widened)
2011				1.0		1.5
2012	23.0			1.2		1.3
2011 & 2012 actual	23.0			2.2		1.8
2013 planned				1.8*		1.0
3 yr total	23.0			4.0		2.8

* includes 1.2 mile Pond Apple/Shipley trail (crushed shell)

Projects Completed in 2012

·         Shared use path extension projects – totaling approximately 1.2 miles at the following locations:

o Bailey Road from Periwinkle Way to just south of Bay Drive (8 ft. wide) (anticipated completion 10/31/12).

o Dixie Beach Boulevard from Albatross Road to Royal Poinciana Drive (8 ft. wide)

(anticipated completion 10/31/12).

·         Shared use path widening projects – totaling approximately 1.3 miles at the following locations:

o Tarpon Bay Road from Island Inn Road to West Gulf Drive.  

      Width is 8 feet from Periwinkle to Island Inn Rd. (last year's project), 10 ft. 

from Island  Inn Rd. to Trost parking and then 12 ft. from Trost parking to West Gulf Dr.

Widened & improved path at Tarpon Bay & West Gulf

o Rabbit Road from West Gulf Drive to Sanibel-Captiva Road. New width is 8 feet.

•   Shared use path repair project – approximately 1.1 miles of repairs located

Island wide.

·         Shared use path striping repairs – 21 crosswalks re-striped located Island wide.

      Wayfinding on Path System.  Last Fall, Sanibel installed wayfinding signs on the path near the "town center", the beginnings of a wayfinding system  for the entire 23-mile path system.  These new signs provide direction and distance information on key destinations.  The signs include QR codes so that visitors can use their smart phones to access websites with information on designation points on the signs, such as the Ding Darling Refuge, the Historical Village, etc.

·         Sanibel Path Welcome Center.  In addition to the city funded projects, the new Sanibel Path Welcome Center on Periwinkle Way by Huxters, was opened in April 2012. This project was initiated by the Sanibel Bicycle Club and funded and implemented by a partnership of community organizations and private individuals,  See April21st blog post on Sanibel's Welcome Center Grand Opening. 

·         Sanibel's Shared Use Path Survey

In April 2012, the City of Sanibel completed an important survey of users of  Sanibel's shared use path.  This survey,  called for in the City's 2009 Shared Use Path Master Plan,  was a follow-up to the survey conducted in 2006, and was conducted to be comparable between the two surveys.  The results of this survey provided quantitative data on the major increases in path usage over the past 6 years:  During the survey period (2 days/4 hour periods each at 7 locations) a total of 4,650 bikes and 1,361 pedestrians were counted--an increase of 56% in cyclists and 77% in pedestrians as compared to 2006.  Clearly, Sanibel's shared-use path is popular and well-used by both residents and visitors, whether they're walking or cycling. 

Projects to be completed in 2013:

• Widening of the East End of Periwinkle Way from Kings Crown Drive to Lighthouse Beach parking lot (1 mile), width will be 10 ft. (summer 2013)

• new path extension on Bowman’s Beach Road. (0.6 miles) (summer 2013)
• Pond Apple trail--Sanibel received a FL Office of Greenway & Trails grant for a new boardwalk to connect (and improve) the current Pond Apple Trail from the Chamber of Commerce parking lot to the new SCCF Shipley trail on the new SCCF Bailey Homestead site to the City Roadside Park.  This connection to be completed in 2013, provides 1.2 miles of new/improved crushed shell trail.  Click here for map of new trail.