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It doesn't take much to figure out how Tampa can make Bayshore Boulevard safer for the hundreds of people who cross it every day to jog, skate or walk along the waterfront. The city should install more traffic lights, the number of traffic lanes near downtown should be reduced and a sidewalk should be installed on the land side between Howard Avenue and Gandy Boulevard.
Last week's death of Melissa McKenzie, who was killed crossing Bayshore to jog, was a tragic result of the deadly dodge that people are forced to risk to get across to the sidewalk. Because the waterfront side lacks parking, except for a few spaces miles apart at its opposite ends, people get to Bayshore by sprinting across four - and in places, six - lanes of traffic. Two traffic lights offer relative safety, but even these stop traffic in only half the lanes. This danger is not new. Indeed, the city promotes Bayshore for what it is - a beautiful, seamless waterfront parkway for pedestrians to enjoy.
But aside from writing traffic tickets, the city has done little to make Bayshore safe to access. In a fitting response to McKenzie's death, Mayor Pam Iorio appointed a task force to recommend safety improvements. Police said the motorcycle that struck McKenzie was traveling at 80 mph or more, or twice the legal speed. Clearly traffic enforcement is part of any solution. But dodging cars at 40 mph is not safe, either. The mayor was right to say the problem is with Bayshore's design. There are too many lanes, traffic moves too fast, the roadway is slick in the rainy months and parts make it difficult for drivers and pedestrians to judge each other's position and speed.
The city should consider installing a light at Bayshore and Euclid Avenue, which would slow down traffic on Bayshore's busiest stretch, the very place the motorcycle hit McKenzie. The southbound lanes near downtown should be reduced from three to two, to slow traffic on the curviest part of Bayshore and to provide a wider median space. There may be good reason to leave the northbound lanes near downtown alone; the three lanes help ambulances reach Tampa General Hospital on Davis Islands.
The city should also consider building a sidewalk on the western side of Bayshore from Howard to Gandy. Some people might be content with that view and decide not to bolt across moving traffic. It would also make it easier for pedestrians to access crosswalks at traffic lights. A pedestrian bridge at Bay to Bay is also an option.
The task force may meet resistance from traffic engineers and private property owners. But Bayshore is a road used as a park, and it should be managed as such.