Miami-based Zysovich Architects recommends that A1A be converted to a slower, two-lane road on page 27 of their
Downtown Cocoa Beach Vision Plan prepared for the City of Cocoa Beach.
The theory behind this proposal is that if the traffic was forced to proceed slower, motorists would be more likely to notice downtown merchants. While that increased and slower traffic flow may benefit storefronts on Atlantic Avenue, the proposal does not address the impact of the lack of A1A traffic to merchants who have Orlando Avenue frontage.
Ironically, the last tax-payer funded ‘improvement’ along Orlando Avenue, which included the addition of foliage by the State of Florida Department of Transportation, actually obscured the view of local merchants’ signage by passing by motorists:
The Vision Plan also proposes that City Hall be relocated to where the controversial Glass Bank exists, which is owned by Frank Wolf, Jr. and
Joseph Yossifon. Although the cost of acquiring the building was not addressed in the Vision Plan.
The Vision Plan suggests that many of the existing free and metered parallel parking spaces in Downtown Cocoa Beach be filled in, and that a multi-story parking garage be built.
