Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Radical Las Olas revamp advances despite concerns
A radical remake of Las Olas Boulevard that would reduce the number of driving lanes and remove the median is under consideration in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale city commissioners expressed hesitation, but voted 3-2 Tuesday night to send the proposal to the state for study and design. Commissioner Dean Trantalis and Mayor Jack Seiler voted no.
Seiler said the city still could back out when the dramatic redesign returns in about a year for construction funding. He was among those who complained the public didn’t have enough opportunity to vet the proposal on an important span of real estate.
“It's a gem, it's a treasure. It's our most wellknown street,” Seiler said.
Mike Weymouth, president of Las Olas Co., a major landowner on the boulevard, said it’s in “deplorable” condition. Planter boxes in the median are deteriorating, sidewalks are crumbling, trees are dying, he said.
Trantalis complained he could “window shop” while driving down the boulevard because traffic moves so slowly. But Weymouth disputed speakers who said gridlock from the reduction in lanes would be a turnoff.
“People like the congestion,” Weymouth countered. “How often do you hear someone honk their horn on Las Olas?”
Some residents worried aloud about squeezing traffic on a popular east-west route from the beach and eastern neighborhoods to downtown.
“Las Olas is a thoroughfare, even though it has a shopping area,” resident Nancy Thomas said at Tuesday’s meeting. “To divert trucks and emergency vehicles off that — for what? For the sake of business on Las Olas? Doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Elected officials and most speakers Tuesday agreed Las Olas has fallen into a sad state, but they weren’t all sure the proposal is the right cure.
Kristen Maus said the city should proceed with caution.
”Preserve the feel of Las Olas, the quaint, charming feel,” she said. “That is our signature road.”
The segment of Las Olas scheduled for a potential makeover stretches from the U.S. 1 tunnel east to 11th Avenue.
Currently, the outer lanes are used for parking after morning rush hour. That configuration would become permanent, leaving one drive lane in each direction. The median and its black olive trees — which some said were messy and dying — would be removed. Sidewalks, criticized as too narrow for two people to walk abreast, would be widened. Trees would be added near the sidewalk and curb. Bike riders would be encouraged to share the lane with cars, a concept called “sharrows” designated by striping on the roadway.
City officials said they have $2.8 million in two grants from the countywide Metropolitan Planning Organization, and private property owners on the boulevard also promised to contribute. The estimated cost is $4.4 million.
Landowners said they’d help come up with the money.
“We are committed to seeing Las Olas Boulevard re-energized,” landlord Steve Hudson told commissioners in March. The redesign of that segment is one of several Las Olas projects in the works. The city plans to improve 15th Avenue, the cut-through for drivers to reach Broward Boulevard and avoid Las Olas. The city also plans to improve the segment from Andrews Avenue to the tunnel for pedestrians and people with disabilities.
In other action, Fort Lauderdale city commissioners Tuesday:
Discussed whether commissioner and mayor salaries should be increased, and whether the salary should be tied to the median household income, which is $48,898, according to City Manager Lee Feldman. Currently, the mayor makes $35,000 and commissioners $30,000. The matter will be sent to the city’s budget advisory board for debate.