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Shop owners give a two-way cheer

Part of King Street in downtown St. Petersburg will be converted soon.

By JON WILSON
Published January 16, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Drivers can expect a striking traffic pattern change on a short strip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street N starting Jan. 31, a Monday.

City crews are converting the street to two-way traffic between Ninth and Fourth avenues N, which represents about a fourth of the 1.5-mile strip of MLK that is one-way for southbound traffic between Ninth avenues N and S.

The rest of the one-way stretch will remain so. Eighth Street N will continue to be one-way northbound.

"It'll mean changing 30 years of driver habits," said city traffic boss Mike Connors, referring to the generation-old one-way stretch installed during the 1970s.

The move back to two-way flow was done at the persistent requests of businesses along the street.

The project has been in the works for about eight years and follows planning sessions, consultants' reports and deliberation among city officials, both elected and nonelected.

Many shop owners think two-way traffic will improve the business climate. They cite a tendency for motorists to drive slower, thus increasing the chances of spying a business they might have missed at a faster speed.

They also cite better access: being able to turn left on MLK from the I-375 exit ramp, or right when driving west on Fifth Avenue N, for example. Some entrepreneurs wanted the entire one-way stretch changed back to two-way. Expense, among other reasons, precluded changing it all now, although the possibility remains.

"Our intent is to monitor how well the (initial) two-way segment performs," Connors said.

Meanwhile, said Mark Taber, vice president of the Martin Luther King Business District: "We'll take whatever they give us."

Toni Kennedy, the district president, said she hopes to revive discussion about decorative medians to further enhance the street.

Hints of the $594,200 two-way project already are present. Mast signal arms and new signs will be installed this week. On Jan. 23, crews will grind pavement to prepare it for resurfacing. Temporary striping goes in soon after that. Technically, the project extends to 10th Avenue N because of work peripheral to making the two-way change.

Barricades at the entrance ramp to I-375 at Fourth Avenue have nothing to do with the two-way project. They mark a section where underground utility work is taking place in preparation for resurfacing Fourth Avenue N, Connors said.

Taber, who owns property along the strip undergoing change, said he can't wait to do a test drive Jan. 31.

"I'm going to be there in my car, driving up and down two ways," he said.

[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]