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City to alter Fourth Street S flow

By JON WILSON
Published March 2, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - One block of Fourth Street S will be changed from one-way to two-way next year, officials say.

Two-way flow will take over between Fifth and Sixth avenues S. One-way traffic will remain between Fifth Avenue N and Fifth Avenue S.

The change follows a University of South Florida St. Petersburg traffic analysis recommending two-way traffic on the block, said Mike Connors, city engineer.

"It looks like it will improve traffic circulation in and around the campus," Connors said. The campus is just east of Fourth Street S. Typically, northbound commuters on Fourth Street turn right on Sixth Avenue S. The change to two-way traffic will give them another option to reach the campus and its parking areas.

The change also will improve access to such city venues as Albert Whitted Airport and Mahaffey Theater, and may enhance traffic flow west of Fourth Street S toward Bayfront Medical Center, Connors said.

"I'm sure it will help the hospital district in a general way," he said. One of the district's changing elements is All Children's Hospital. Construction on the new All Children's at 600 Sixth Ave. S is scheduled to begin later this year.

The two-way project will be undertaken in conjunction with a $7.5-million street resurfacing, restriping and signal installation on Fourth and Third streets between Fifth avenues N and S. That project also will include Fifth Avenue N from Fourth Street to Third Street and Fourth Avenue N from 16th Street to Fourth Street.

The project is expected to start later this spring and is expected to take 18 months.

[Last modified March 2, 2005, 00:47:18]