Upcoming Changes to all Gates in The Villages
 

I received this in an email. I have not verified the information with District Property Management. Has anyone else heard anything regarding this issue?
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Gary Kadow, fellow Lynnhaven resident who is currently running for Supervisor in Community Development District 5 (CDD 5), seat #5, in the upcoming General election took the initiative for clarifying this issue for us.

10/11/2010 5:38 PM I just had a long conversation with Sam Wartinbee, Director of District Property Management, regarding the upcoming changes planned for the gates here in The Villages. I know that several of our neighbors have raised this issue, and I wanted to be sure they had accurate information.


These changes are in fact a result of a Federal Law that takes effect on January 1, 2011. This law has been adopted by the Florida legislature, and accepted by the counties of Sumter, Lake, and Marion. In essence, the law states that there must be complete traffic control of all "vehicles" entering and exiting The Villages. As a result, the following will be implemented in our community:
All single entrance and exit gates must extend far enough over to leave no more than a 24-inch opening.

All double gates, such as the one at the Bonnybrook exit, can have no more than a 40-inch opening.

These gates must have a red and white striped reflective pattern on them, and the "Welcome Home" can no longer be used on the gate arms. Go figure?

ALL vehicles must be controlled by the gate arms. This includes automobiles, motorcycles, golf carts, and bicycles. The gate at Belvedere "may be an exception" due to it's current design.

Any gate that is unable to detect bicycles or special alloy vehicles will be equipped with electric eye sensors.

Anyone going around these gates may be subject to traffic law enforcement violations.

How will this be paid for?

Districts 1 through 4 on the North side of Route 466 have already had their ACC Committee approve using amenities fee funds.

District 5 will be paid for by the Sumter Landing Community Development District (SLCDD), which in fact will be using the current amenities fees that we pay them. It will not come out of our District Property Assessment fees.

Districts 6 through 10 will be paid for by the Developer.
That's about it for now. Hope this helps.

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I wounder what the costs were for Washington to make this decision. :boom:

Hi Bogie,
Thanks for passing this along. Do you by chance know anything about new law? It's title? It's purpose? Who sponsored and why? Anybody?

If the information is correct, I'm also curious what it will cost and expected impacts (other than taking longer to get through the gates).

On the surface, it sounds... weird.

I only know what you see in the email.
The cost shouldn't be that much, since the gates are knocked down on a regular basis....just install the longer ones.

I agree, Pt. Once again our legislators are working hard to save lives, cure unemployment, fix the economy and all the other reasons we elected them . . . when I go to the polls I want a box to vote for "none of the above."

Isn't "into The Villages" un-gated anyway?
Any vehicle can go through =on the major roads with no control.

If the Harmeswood gate openings were even close to 24" we'd be delighted.
One must turn sideways in order to walk through

Is a wheelchair, mobility scooter, or pushed bicycle a vehicle?

Hopefully someone will take some action and do a little more research

L and L

At a bike club meeting we were told (by a Sumter County sheriff) that the cost for the new gates is over $1 million dollars.

Will the gates open automatically without the use of a gate card?

golf -- You can't blame everything on Washington. It sounds like this is a Florida legislator decision. Can't even imagine the feds passing a law such as this.

If thats true......some legislator must own a gate company.

Do away with the gates, put up a stop sign and full length speed bumps.

The Feds set highway design standards in the MUTCD ... manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Florida has adopted the national standard.

In 2003, I see a letter from Tampa area inquiring if gates into residential areas are considered traffic control. The fed response at that time was the only gates they addressed were rail crossings and bridges but that they would consider residential gates in future editions of the standard. It looks like the 2009 update to the MUTCD chapter 2B.68 -page 102 in the link below now includes these residential gates as traffic control devices and thus requires them to have vertical red and white striping and extend the full width.

That's the offiicial source, as best I can tell. Does it make sense in our world??? Probably not... Yes it may increase safety but that will be offset by increased delays in getting through the gates and general aggravation on the part of bikers and golf cart operators.

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009/part2b.pdf

It probably has something to do with state adoption of the Federal Highway Administration Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices or something along those lines. Just a guess. Don't know what would have changed and why.

Ooops. V07 just posted that. I'm a day late and a dollar short-- again!

No, everyone will need to swipe their card or press the button.