First, as they say in the U.S. Senate, a point of personal privilege.
The St. Petersburg Times' computer systems are being inundated by spam. On one recent Monday, I found 287 pieces of junk e-mail in my inbox.
When I open my e-mail, I read the subject line of each item. Some of them are easy to categorize as spam. Others aren't so simple. If the subject line is ambiguous, like "Hi" or "This is important," or if there is nothing in the subject line and I don't recognize the sender, I delete the mail unread.
I can't risk opening one of these items and introducing a virus into the system.
I am sure that occasionally this method dooms a legitimate question from a reader, and if that has happened to you, I apologize.
In order to make sure this doesn't happen to you, be very careful that your subject line briefly describes your question or area of interest. Look at what you've written and think about whether it could be mistaken for spam. I will always look at something like, "16th Street traffic problem" or "Huge pothole."
And if you're a spammer, forget I just said that.
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We had a note from a reader complaining that when driving on Central Avenue, there are no street signs identifying the Pasadena Avenue cross street. This is a problem, the reader wrote, because Pasadena is a major intersection, and if she didn't live here she wouldn't know where she was.
I drove both ways through the intersection. Eastbound, toward downtown, there is a faded sign on a post on the curb, useless because it is impossible to read. But overhead, directly in the intersection between the two traffic signals, is a large white-on-green sign that says, "Pasadena." Hard to miss.
Coming the other way, however, the reader has a point. As you approach the intersection westbound on Central, there is a small informational sign on the curb that says Pasadena is a left turn. That's fine, but if you are in the curb lane and need to get into the left-turn lane, you aren't going to make it unless it's 3 in the morning.
There is no pole-mounted street sign and no overhead sign. Somebody needs to hie out there (I don't get to use that verb very often, hie) and fix it.
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Working our way south, Sue Lewis of Gulfport asked us to check up on the condition of 22nd Avenue S between 49th and 34th streets. That section of road generates a lot of complaints, and no matter what is done to it, it never seems to be enough to resolve all the problems.
Let me bring you up to date.
Mike Connors, St. Petersburg's guru of all street stuff, tells us that the city recently finished some sewer improvements along 22nd Avenue, and the pavement work was completed "to our satisfaction."
However, Mike added, "We agree that given its current condition, it does deserve resurfacing."
Too bad Mike isn't making the decisions. The avenue is a county road, and it will be up to the Pinellas roadies to decide what to do about it. There is a project in the works to widen 22nd Avenue S and make intersection improvements. Perhaps everyone is holding off on resurfacing knowing that a major reconstruction of the road is coming.
Until then, I guess the plan should be to slow down, bounce and bear it.
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A reader asked me to look at Interstate 275 southbound, coming up to the 54th Avenue S/Pinellas Bayway exit. It is a situation I'd never noticed, and I can see how it would force some motorists to make last-second decisions about their lane.
About a mile north of the exit, signs tell motorists headed for the Bayway to take the right lane, and motorists who want 54th Avenue to take the center.
However, when you actually get to the exit, those bound for 54th Avenue must suddenly switch to the right lane, which then splits, the right side going to the Bayway and the left side going to 54th Avenue.
It would be a whole lot simpler and, dare I say safer, if motorists bound for 54th Avenue S were directed to the right lane in the first place.
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Eyeball Jiggler of the Week:
On 26th Avenue S east of 21st Street, there is a series of dips and holes in the road, some blocked by sawhorses and some not. Going westbound on 26th Avenue is particularly arduous.
A reader tells us the sawhorses have been there for several months, but nobody's done anything yet to fix the problem. And some of the barriers have been knocked flat.
Hello, St. Petersburg!
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MaryLou Gustin of St. Petersburg asked why there is no traffic signal at the intersection of 37th Street S and 18th Avenue. The intersection is a four-way stop, but it seemed to MaryLou that there was too much traffic there to make a four-way a viable traffic-control device, especially in rush hours.
So I took a look, and MaryLou has a point. The movement through that intersection is very jerky and inefficient. I am forced to endorse the notion that a traffic signal would be a good solution, though it probably could go to a flashing yellow and flashing red in off-peak traffic hours. Perhaps the city could do a traffic count there and come up with a better plan.
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PERSONAL MOMENT: A number of you have written asking why Jessie has disappeared from the column. She had bladder cancer and died Nov. 22, three months shy of her 15th birthday. It is lonesome doing this column without her help. I know she had a lot of fans out there.
- Dr. Delay can be reached by e-mail at docdelay@sptimes.com by fax at 727 893-8675 or by snail mail at 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
