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City attempts to rein in speeders
By MEGAN SCOTT OLDSMAR -- City officials want to make sure the new Forest Lakes Boulevard extension doesn't turn into Oldsmar Motor Speedway. Already, they say, the 2.5-mile stretch that leads into Hillsborough County has become a racecourse with some drivers reaching 60 mph. The speed limit is 45 mph. In response to the city's request, Pinellas County's traffic signal and median control committee last week approved a plan to install a traffic light where the new road intersects with Pine Avenue N, a street used by joggers, bikers and children walking to Forest Lakes Elementary School. If the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization approves the plan Wednesday, the light could go up before Christmas, said Gina Harvey, a principal planner for the MPO. But that would be just the beginning of a series of traffic control measures needed on that road, City Council members say. They also want the speed limit lowered to 35 mph. And they want it strictly enforced. "People tend to go five to 10 miles faster than the posted speed limit," City Council member Brian Michaels said. "If it's 45 that means they are doing 50 or 55. That's too fast." The Forest Lakes Boulevard extension opened three weeks ago after nearly 10 years of delays. It provides drivers an alternate route to busy Tampa Road and a straight shot through Westchase to Tampa Bay Skating Academy and the Uniprise office complex. It's a road that's expected to become clogged with cars, especially with the building boom of Tampa Bay Commerce Park. Nielsen Media Research is building a large corporate campus next to the new road. When it opens next year, 3,000 more cars will be on the roadway. "We're going to have a good 15,000 to 20,000 cars on this thing," said Mayor Jerry Beverland. "They never anticipated this." County engineers determined the traffic light was needed after conducting a two-week study on traffic and pedestrian patterns around the school. If the signal is installed, school crossing guards will be posted at the intersection to help children walk across the four lanes of the new extension. It would be a big victory for many Oldsmar residents, who were so concerned about pedestrian safety on Pine Avenue N they petitioned the county for the light. Pine Avenue N has a neighborhood park at the city's new fire station south of the elementary school. Another park is planned on the northern end of the road. "I am very happy about the light," said Diane Clark, 47, president of the homeowners association for the Preserve at Cypress Lakes. "That, to me, was my biggest concern. With the light there it will slow down traffic." Clark said her other concern is putting up a "No Trucks" sign, something Beverland says he hopes will happen this week. Dump trucks are banned from the new extension.
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From the Times |
