As Mick Jagger sang:

And no, you can't always get what you want
No, you can't always get what you want
Well, no, you can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

If the actual total spent annually on these gates (we think of them as vanity icons so we villagers can impress family and guests that we live in a "private country club" community....LOL ! It would be interesting to tabulate and compare, any differences in accidents, etc. on the days when all gate arms are removed. For instance, sometimes for multiple days in a row due to hurricane threats. Are MORE people hit on the days there are no gate arms ? More golf carts hit ? More auto accidents ? Who knows, we may be able to save hundreds of thousands of dollars to just do away with the "illusion" of how exclusive it is here ? Is there a point to having traffic backed up to 466 just to turn onto Belvidere near the library or high school ? Might me worth studying, but think the idea has always been more to sell the illusion of a private community ?

The gate arms do more than just create an illusion (although I doubt the developer and its sales team do little to dissuade potential buyers from believing in the illusion), in that they create a visible and predictable break in traffic, in between each automobile, to facilitate golf cart crossings at those intersections.

When an automobile slows down for a stop sign, you can't be sure it will actually STOP, but when that gate arm comes down, or is down, you know the car is not going to keep rolling through it. (Well, that's the idea anyway, and it works 99.999% of the time).

I use my golf cart a lot for transportation, and I appreciate the presence of the gates when they are up and functioning. When I come to a gate that is out of commission, for whatever reason, it takes a bit more time and eye contact between cart and automobile to negotiate the dance.

I suspect that as TV has grown, and distances have lengthened within the bounds of it, a higher percentage of trips are taken by automobile than was the case 20 years ago. My sense of things is that car drivers find the gates more of a nuisance, and are less appreciative of the service they provide, and hence, since more folks are driving cars now than 20 years ago, there is less of an understanding and appreciation for why they exist.

Especially if the sun is hitting it just right

[QUOTE=Laker14;2258726]The gate arms do more than just create an illusion (although I doubt the developer and its sales team do little to dissuade potential buyers from believing in the illusion), that they create a visible and predictable break in traffic, in between each automobile, to facilitate golf cart crossings at those intersections.


True for entrance gates but not exit gates. Exit gates have a time delay and typically do not come down after every car when there is a line of cars passing through.

I would hope the quarterly flower plantings would go before the gates in any cost cutting measures. At least they get some income from the gate strikers.

The Belvedere Gate is about 1500 feet from 466. Is the gate really causing the backups or is it school drop-offs and pick-ups ? Can the problem be vehicles using Belvedere as a shortcut to Buena Vista ? That's where traffic studies come in.

[QUOTE=bob47;2258795]Coming north on the BV MMP, at the St. Charles gate, during the busy times traffic heading out the exit gates can get a tad backed up. While the gate arm may not come all the way down in between each car, it does slow and sometimes stop the traffic exiting, which makes a convenient opportunity for a nice soul to wave a few carts through before proceeding.
Yes, yes...I know, cars are not "supposed to" wave carts through, but when the automobile traffic is continuous, and the golf carts are backed up in a long line, it is not inappropriate for a car to break that rule and let a few carts go through. Otherwise we'd miss happy hour.

Im not sure what happened with that gate, but my guess is whoever designed that whole part of the development dropped the ball when calculating how much traffic that intersection would get, due to all of the homes that need to use it to get in and out.