Some Seminole residents want drivers at the 80th Avenue/113th Street intersection to slow down.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
Published June 1, 2003
SEMINOLE - Mary Bello walks to Seminole Mall just about every day. Though she crosses only one street to get there, she says it's no easy task.
Motorists regularly take 80th Avenue to avoid the heavy traffic around the mall. And some are heavy on the gas pedal.
Mrs. Bello and 500 of her neighbors at Seminole Garden Apartments are concerned about the volume and speed of traffic on 80th Avenue, a private road between the mall and the apartments. They've signed a petition asking representatives from the city, mall, apartment complex and other agencies to meet with them to discuss ways to make 80th Avenue and 113th Street more pedestrian-friendly.
They already have some suggestions for 80th Avenue: add a crosswalk, install "Watch for Pedestrian" signs and lower the 25-mph speed limit to 20 mph.
"It's used so much now and they drive so fast," said Mrs. Bello, 79, who has lived in Seminole Garden Apartments, a 64-acre complex with nearly 800 units, for seven years. "I just wait until I don't see any car in sight."
Neighbor Ruth Holcomb, 84, agrees: "It's dangerous, I tell you, to even cross the street to get to Kmart (at Seminole Mall)."
Like Mrs. Bello and Mrs. Holcomb, many of the apartments' residents no longer drive cars. Instead, they walk or ride electric scooters or wheelchairs to the mall to buy groceries and other staples.
The petition was delivered Tuesday to the City Council. Copies also were given to other agencies, including the companies that manage the mall and the apartment complex.
City Manager Frank Edmunds said the city can't solve the traffic problems on 80th Avenue because the road is part of the mall's property.
Seth Layton, executive vice president of leasing for RMC Property Group of Tampa, which manages Seminole Mall, said Friday he hadn't seen the petition. "But we take the safety of our customers very seriously and we'll review the petition with an eye toward making the traffic patterns safer," he said.
The petition also requests changes on 113th Street:
- Reduce the 40-mph speed limit from Park Boulevard to 102nd Street.
- Connect the sidewalk on the east side of 113th Street to a post office and library.
- Increase the duration of the pedestrian light at 86th Avenue.
The last request concerns more than the retirees who live in Seminole Garden Apartments. Resident Laura Svoboda, who is 23, says she has trouble safely crossing 113th Street. "(The light) will change and I'll be stuck in the middle of the road," she said Wednesday afternoon after dashing across the six-lane corridor with her 4-year-old nephew.
Edmunds said the city will review the light cycle at 113th Street/86th Avenue intersection. If a study warrants it, he said, the pedestrian light could be extended.
Now, the flashing green light stops before most pedestrians reach the center of the road. A flashing red light tells pedestrians already in the crosswalk to finish crossing the street, but warns those on the sidewalk not to enter the intersection.
Edmunds said it's unlikely the 40-mph speed limit on 113th Street would be lowered, but the city would conduct a study.
Workers also will build sidewalks on the library property when the building is remodeled into a new City Hall later this year, Edmunds said. A sidewalk also will be installed in front of the city's recreation center on the west side of 113th Street.
