I have read all of what you have to say and you all have considered this from every angle. There is a small thing added into this, a very small thing that I dislike very much.

It is when we have been out painting, lunching, pickleballing, golfing, riding our bike, cart, car, motorcycle, or when we have driven a gazillion hours or flown from way far away, on our return each and every one of us always felt so nice to read. "Welcome Home".

:agree: My wife and I too like to see the "Welcome Home" signs on the gate.

I read through the minutes of the Villages Community Development District's meetings. There are a few reference that I could find regarding the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the gates in TV.

I am including only a portion of the minutes I found addressing the issue. You can look at the minutes by going to the link I provide at the end of the post and researching the matter if you are interested.

There is a resident of Polo Ridge who has provided the board with the UTCD and brings the issue to the boards attention at several of the meetings. I haven't looked back far enough in the minutes to find the first time it is brought up. But here is what I have found.

April 7, 2010: Page 12 of the minutes, 11th order of business, Gate Incident Report

"Stan Kozloski, Village of Polo Ridge, provided the Committee with a copy of information provided by the Florida Highway Administration pertaining to gates and advised there is direction included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) pertaining to signage on shareduse paths.

"Mr. Wartinbee advised Staff has located a high intensity red and white reflective tape which will be installed on resident entry and exit gates. The red and white tape will be installed in three sections along the gates. Staff has identified that the blue tape installed on the Southern Trace gate was
an error and the tape will be removed."

May 12, 2010: Page 10 of the minutes, the 8th order of business:
Gate Arm Length and Stop Signs

"Mike Tucker, Chief, Villages Public Safety Department (VPSD) advised Staff has been communicating with law enforcement in an attempt to identify what actions the District can take to ensure proper traffic flow when gate arms are inoperable and have been advised by law enforcement the stop signs installed on the barrels are not enforceable; however, the District has been commended by law enforcement for utilizing the signs and barrels by warning residents of the need to stop.

"Staff will continue with the placement of the barrels.

"Sam Wartinbee, District Property Management (DPM) Director, advised Chief Tucker and he have identified the gate arms at an exit gate will not be less than 36 inches. In regards to the entry gates the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) effective January 2011 will be adopted by
Sumter County and the Town of Lady Lake. Staff has not been able to receive confirmation from Marion County at this time.

"The MUTCD states that a gate arm shall completely block a lane of traffic
except for a 24 inch opening for pedestrians; however, in some instances the pedestrian opening may increase to 36 inches. The District will comply with the MUTCD which will require all vehicles, inclusive of bicyclists, motorcycles and golf carts, to stop at the gates to utilize their gate card or the
push button.

"Mr. Wartinbee advised the MUTCD also requires alternating 16 inches of red and 16 inches of white tape on the gate arms which Staff will apply manually.
Chairman Lambrecht requested confirmation if the “Welcome Home” stickers would be removed. Mr. Wartinbee stated the “Welcome Home” stickers would have to be removed.

"Mr. Wartinbee advised the Committee the cost for replacement gate arms will increase depending on the number broken by golf carts."


July 14, 2010: Page 12 of the minutes, the 12th order of business: Administrative Policy Pertaining to Length of Gate Arms and Timing of Gates at Entries and Exits.

August 11, 2010: , Page 19 of the minutes, the 21st order of business:
Committee Member Comments



http://www.districtgov.org/aac/aac.aspx

Another gate problem created
 

Implementation of new gate regulations without sufficient research and input would create a bigger problem than whatever it is proponents and uninformed bureaucrats are trying to solve. The Bridgeport Lake Sumter gate comes to mind. Because of the design of the gate, a poor one at that, golf cart traffic would have to exit the cart path, go out to Buena Vista where operators without street legal status would be breaking the law, and re-enter through the access on the island which extends to Buena Vistaa. You see, the gate access reader is between the cart path and Buena Vista while the gate is between the path and the village. This maneuver or any shortcut to circumvent it, would be extremely dangerous as two way cart traffic co-mingles with fast traffic coming off Buena Vista and would compete to enter the same access amd gate. I can hear the crunching of metal on fiberglass already. I know that there must be other gates with similar design issues.

Of course the Sumter County Sheriff can set up a manned booth and write summones for all those gate violators who break one law to satisfy another. Great revenue stream for the county.

I wonder if the people who create these dictates considered the cost implications of the redesign efforts necessary to implement the new restrictions safely? Who will pick up the redesign tab? Heck.....on the plus side it will create jobs for someone.

Bravo, Cabo35 and thanks to bcunningham for the info on CDD minutes.
Has the POA taken any stand on this issue? Perhaps we need a class-action lawsuit to prevent implementation of these ill-advised changes.

Gate changes
 

I find it mildly interesting that there should be such concern over this. Most folks think there is not enough security. If I had a vote I would say the more security the better.

They cannot stop anyone from coming into the Villages because these are public roads. There are a few roads around the Villages that have it posted that they are "private" roads.

This will just make more of a headache for gatekeepers and people waiting in lines at the gates.

It is also very probably that many more gates will get broken by people trying to go around them in their golf cart. I must see someone going around gates in a car or truck about twice a month at least.

007 -If there is no concurrent adjustments to the "press the button and let anyone in policy", what will longer gates accomplish? I agree with you that we need more security. We differ on the consequences gate extensions will have on multi-modal traffic flow safety and....its dubious impact on security.

Perhaps a consolidation of efforts reviewing and combining security and traffic safety interests would be more in the interest of Villagers. The gate extension by itself is a band-aid that will not enhance security without an overhaul of the current security efforts or lack thereof.

It does not increase security in my opinion...only slows traffic
 

maybe.

As far as having your gate card with you, there is really no need for that. Just push the button like everybody else that left their card home or is not a resident.

This sounds like another one of those conference room decisions made without real knowledge to solve a problem that is most likely minimal in proportion and anfter the spending of the money and changes made, NOTHING WILL HAVE CHANGED except the longer gates and spending the money.

What needs to be ferreted out is the prime mover/motivation for this to become an issue in the first place. And with sufficient urgency to spend what will wind up being more than $i million dollars.

btk

PS is it not impressive the number of hits some subjects get!!!!

It may have been said before, and might get said again.....
Would it be possible a gate contractor could stand a chance to benefit?

We had someone going around to stores , offices, and shopping centers citing people for ADA accessibility infractions and it just so happened his brother was in the business of construction

Then there are some political types that blame certain governmental actions, declarations, and projects on the revenue.

That is not the business of this forum

We just agree it's a waste of effort and money to put so much into those gates.

On the other hand, there's enough iron and steel in the Gate at BV and Avalos to build a ship


L and L

Re: Cost
 

I don't know how they came up with the $1M price tag. But perhaps it takes into consideration that every time a gate is broken by a vehicle, instead of replacing the broken, shorter, arm onto the gate, they have to buy a new one.

Gate Standards
 

If you read the Mutcd - it is not a LAW it is a standard for traffic control devices and signage. It states the arm should be long enough to effectively restrict motorized vehicles. Does not say we can not have the Welcome Home sign. It does say the mechanism must be at least 2ft. behind the edge of the curb. Read the MUTCD


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

Red,

The third paragraph states that it started with mandate from Washington!! I thought there were a whole lot of hot topics on their plate in D.C.

Yup, you be right, I be wrong. Amazing how something done to protect idiots from running train crossings has become such a royal mess for others (and I can't believe this is just an issue for TV). It would be so nice if common sense would prevail once in awhile.

Hey Red, since we already have our black t-shirts, badges and sticks, maybe Gracie, you and me can beat some common sense into 'em!