The closed portion of 22nd Avenue S will still be open to residents or customers of businesses there.
By JON WILSON
Published July 13, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - A 15-block strip of 22nd Avenue S, a major east-west route running from Tampa Bay to South Pasadena, will close to through traffic for three months starting Monday.
A huge city sewer repair job will limit vehicle use between U.S. 19 (34th Street) and 49th Street - a busy section with homes, businesses and public services.
People who live between those two streets still can use 22nd Avenue. So can motorists bound for one of the destinations between the streets, which include the new Thurgood Marshall Middle School, a branch post office, a golf course and churches.
Others are directed to the city's officially designated detour, 15th Avenue S.
The project also will affect Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus routes. Bus No. 23, for example, which usually runs on 22nd Avenue along the strip scheduled for work, will switch that part of its route to 18th Avenue S, bus company officials said.
Riders who have questions about their stops should call the PSTA's information line, 530-9911.
Entrepreneurs and merchants along the sewer-work section are assured their businesses will remain accessible, said Mike Connors, city engineer.
"We are encouraging all businesses to let their customers know they can still get there," Connors said.
One spot with traffic-tangle potential is Thurgood Marshall. The school opens for the first time in August with enrollment expected to be about 500.
The campus entrance on 38th Street S can be reached via 22nd Avenue S. But that could pose problems even without a construction job going on.
"We want to train people to come in on 18th Avenue S to help with the traffic flow," said Joan Minnis, Thurgood Marshall principal.
Parents bringing children can turn south on 38th Street from 18th Avenue at the Mosque of the Believers and continue past the Bible Way Church of God in Christ.
The school entrance is on the right, just beyond 21st Avenue. After the turn-in and a short S-curve, another right turn directs drivers to the student drop-off point. They then take a horseshoe route around the parking lot and exit at the point they entered.
Eighteenth Avenue S is available as an alternative while the 22nd Avenue section is closed. It wasn't chosen as the official detour because it has no signal light at 49th Street, while 15th Avenue does, Connors said.
The 22nd Avenue S section where the work will take place is the avenue's busiest, according to a Pinellas County traffic count last year. Taken just west of 34th Street, the county shows a daily average of 21,212 vehicles.
Twenty-second Avenue S, which becomes Gulfport Boulevard in that city, is a major route to Pasadena Avenue, an access road to St. Pete Beach.
Some business people along the blocks where the work will take place are worried about the impact the project will have, even with their customers having access.
"Just what I need for them to do right now, just starting out," said Keith Evelyn, who owns Gigi's Tobacco in a small commercial strip in the 4700 block of 22nd Avenue. He has been open a few weeks.
A couple of doors down, Judy White and her family have operated St. George's Religious Supplies for 20 years. "It's going to stop my business. I'm not going to like that too much," White said.
Corbie Wilson, on the other hand, isn't sweating it. He has owned Gulfport Furniture for a generation and figures to ride out whatever inconvenience the city project brings.
"Whatever hand I'm dealt," Wilson said, shrugging.
"The positive part is, they're closing (the avenue) during the slow season.
"The thing is, I don't think we're going to lose a step."
The $1.054-million project will replace sanitary sewer pipes and manholes in the middle of the road. Some of the pipes are 48 inches in diameter and some of the excavations will be as much as 20 feet deep, Connors said.
"This is intended to address some seriously deteriorated pipelines and abate sewer overflows during storm events," Connors said. He said some of the pipes being replaced are 50 years old. The project has been in the city's capital improvement plan for several years, he said.
The job is expected to be finished Oct. 4, Connors said.
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Thurgood Marshall Middle School invites incoming students and their parents to a series of open house-registration sessions from 2 to 6 p.m. this week at the school, 3901 22nd Ave. S. Sixth-graders whose last names begin with A through L are invited to come Tuesday. Sixth-graders whose last names begin with L through Z are invited to come Wednesday. All seventh- and eighth-graders are invited to come Thursday.
Students will have a chance to tour the newly completed school, register for classes and participate in selection of school colors and a mascot. Students and parents also can take the opportunity to sign the parent-student agreement required by fundamental schools.
Sixth- through eighth-graders who are new to the district should bring proof of residency, a recent report card, a physical examination certificate, a Florida certificate of immunization and a birth certificate to register.
