Reconvened Bike Committee has Busy Agenda

In their first official meeting, the reconfigured City of Marco Island Bike Path Committee was appraised of the ambitious bicycling infrastructure agenda that lies ahead. The Friday, March 15, meeting, held in the city’s annex building, was the first bike path committee meeting since the onset of Covid. 

The new committee contains only one member from the previous committee that last met in 2020. That member, chairman Al Musico, introduced three longtime members of the previous committee who attended Friday’s meeting. Only one of them spoke, Phil Kostelnik, who expressed his frustration with being excluded from the new committee.

"I was asked by the city manager, Bill Moss, and public works director, Rony Joel, to join the Marco Island City Bike Committee,”  Kostelnik said, “and I was at the very first meeting in 2006. I've been a member now for 17 years. On May 17, 2022, I received an email that said our meetings had been canceled because of Covid, and (then-public works director) Tim Pinter’s retirement. And that since the substance of our meetings is to review the status of our projects, it didn't make sense to have a meeting until his replacement is on board and up to speed.” 

Kostelnik was upset when he found out a new committee was assembled. 

"The new Bike Committee meeting was scheduled with eight people,” Kostelnik said. “City Council was updated on all the projects that the committee is currently working on. I read about the meeting in the Coastal Breeze, and I was very upset when I looked at the list and saw that no one from the original committee (except Musico) was on the list. We never received any information or knowledge from the committee.”

"Thank you,” Al Musico said to Kostelnik. "Okay. Let's move on."

And there was a lot to move on to. Musico gave updates on the five remaining projects in the Marco Island Master Plan. He also updated the committee on the Marco Island-initiated Marco Island Loop Project that would provide a multi-use trail (shared-use path) along SR 951 and CR 92 that will complete the Marco Island Loop. The project is a partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District One, Collier County, and the Collier County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Of course, the segment from the Stan Gober Memorial Bridge to US 41 is especially attractive to Marco Island bicyclists.

"This is not a Marco Island project, right?” Musico told the committee. "It's a Collier County project, but because Erik Brechnitz is the one who initiated this as a member of the MPO, we're tracking it, and we're saying we gotta stay on top of it and keep it moving.” Brechnitz is also vice-chairman of Marco's city council. 

"We really had some good news on the Marco Loop Project,” Musico said. "The Sun Trail network is driven by the Florida DEP. FDOT has really taken up this project. It's their project and they applied to the Florida DEP to add this to the Sun Trail network, and they approved it. So, we're now officially part of the central network. They've now gone to the Sun Trail people and requested $6.3 million to fund the entire Collier County piece, of which the Marco Loop is a component. That's for the PD&E (project development and environmental) project.”

Another exciting project is the City Center Pathway which encompasses Elkcam Circle, 6th Avenue, and Park Ave. The new pathway will connect Veterans Community Park to the existing network of shared-use paths, providing access to Winn Dixie and Publix. It will also extend the Elkcam Circle shared-use path from Bald Eagle to Collier Blvd. An 8-foot shared-use path will be added from 6th Ave. from Elkcam Circle to Barfield Drive.

“The City Center Pathway project was presented to city council at the last meeting,” Musico said, "and they unanimously agreed to add that to the master plan. So, the updated master plan is on the consent agenda for this coming Monday. And that's one of the things we need in order to submit an application for FDOT funding. So that looks good."

According to a report by committee member Harry Gorgas, there were 13 auto vs bike accidents in 2023, up from four in 2022. Five of the accidents were on N. Collier Blvd, four were on Bald Eagle Drive. 

The current bike path committee is Al Musico (chairman), Kevin Dohm (vice-chair), Harry Gorgas, George Abounader, Jim Richards, Harry Aronis, Geoff Strong, and Frank DiChiara. The staff liaison is Public Works Director Justin Martin.