Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighborhood notebook

Shore Acres traffic plan runs into voter barricade

By KATIE WILSON
Published June 19, 2005

Shore Acres' roads will remain hump-free for now after the traffic plan recently voted for by residents failed to be approved.

Shore Acres Civic Association president Dick Oliver, association traffic chairwoman Patti Cook and council member Bill Foster expressed disappointment with the outcome.

"During the school year one can see our students sitting on the curbs on these busy streets waiting for their early morning pickup by school buses," Oliver said. "It is scary to think that it will take a death or major injury before the situation is corrected."

Cook recalled a recent citation given to a driver going 62 mph in a 25 mph zone. She worries about children in the neighborhood, including her 2-week old grandson whom she takes for walks.

According to Cook's break-down of the 625 eligible votes, the majority of residents living on Shore Acres Boulevard and Bay Shore Boulevard approved the plan. Neighbors living in smaller cul-de-sacs, who don't encounter lead-footed drivers speeding past their own homes, were more likely to vote against the plan.

In fact, some of the residents in these communities were passionately against the plan, saying that fire trucks will lose critical seconds driving over speed bumps, and that evacuations from the area will also be slowed.

Roy Young, who has lived on 52nd Avenue NE since 1972, was one of several who walked door-to-door to about 75 homes, encouraging neighbors to vote against the plan.

"I'm not a speeder," Young said. "Why should I slow down to five mph (to pass a speed hump) when I don't speed?"

Some believe traffic issues should be handled by the police department, which Foster said isn't likely to happen and wouldn't be as effective as speed humps and other traffic calming devices.

"We don't have the resources to have a cop on every thoroughfare 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Foster said.

Young suggested a plan that he became familiar with in Virginia, that hikes speeding ticket fines by $200, and then in turn uses the extra money to support patrolling traffic police in the area.

Foster said this idea and others suggested to the association are good ones, but not feasible legally. The statute concerning substantially raising speeding fines in residential areas is very limited, Foster said, and is an issue which he plans to bring up in Tallahassee.

The traffic plan has evoked passionate feelings from both sides of the issue, to the point of name-calling, cursing and division within the association and neighbors.

"I was recently accosted by one irate neighbor who told me repeatedly he did not want the civic association making decisions for him," Oliver said. "He said he elected the mayor to do that."

Foster and others supporting the plan are disappointed with the seeming lack of respect people have for the personal safety of their neighbors, questioning why a speed hump slowing a driver momentarily is looked upon so negatively considering the potential benefits.

"Good grief, what ever happened to love thy neighbor?" asked Foster.

Northeast Park's traffic plan was recently passed by residents and includes installation of traffic calming devices and the reduction of the current speed limit from 30 mph to 25 throughout the neighborhood.

The plan also includes lowering the speed limit to 35 mph on 40th Avenue Northeast between First Street N and the Shore Acres Bridge, and the installation of landscaped medians to further attempt to slow down traffic on 40th Avenue.

Council member Bill Foster said that he has received phone calls from Shore Acres residents complaining about the changes in Northeast Park, asking why they weren't included in the voting process for that area as they would be affected by the reduction of the speed limit along thoroughfares such as 40th Avenue.

Foster supported the plan in Shore Acres, as well as the changes in Northeast Park.

Attention is also being given to 38th Avenue from First to Fourth streets North concerning pedestrian activity, as someone was recently struck and killed by oncoming traffic.

Fourth Street N got accessorized Thursday, with tropical-style banners that extends from decorative street lights.

An early step in the beautification plan for Fourth Street, the banners hang from street lights lining the east side of the street from Ninth Avenue to 30th Avenue N, and boasts the title: "4th Street Garden District."

The plan, which was approved several months ago after seven years of discussion, includes new sidewalks, landscaping and pedestrian-friendly cross-walks.

LAKEWOOD ESTATES: will be hosting a Neighborhood Block Party from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The event will take place at Fire Station #11, 5150 31st St. S.

CENTRAL OAK PARK: will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 4444 5th Ave. N. Gary Star from Sunshine Home Inventory will speak about documenting your possessions as part of hurricane preparedness.

CRESCENT HEIGHTS: Neighborhood Association will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of Beatitudes, 2812 8th St. N. The Pinellas County Extension Office will give a presentation on rain barrels, which are used to conserve water in the landscape, and will raffle off a barrel during the meeting. Representatives from the Sierra Club will speak about Green City planning.

GRAND CENTRAL DISTRICT: will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Grand Central District Office, 2300 First Ave. N. Agenda items include reviewing the sidewalk program, next year's budget, and neighborhood entryway monuments.

GREATER PINELLAS POINT: Civic Association will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Bay Vista Adult Center, 7000 4th St. S. The association will award two graduates of Lakewood High School with college scholarships, as well donate a check and children's board games to the Lake Vista Community Center. Dr. James Frasier from Eckerd College will speak about educational opportunities for seniors.

HARRIS PARK: Neighborhood Association will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Vietnamese Alliance Church, 4344 21st St. N. Agenda items will include a crime update, preparations for the Annual Night Out, and the introduction of the neighborhood's new Crime Watch Coordinator, Betsy Sweet.

JUNGLE TERRACE: Civic Association will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Walter Fuller Community Center, 7891 26th Ave. N, with a social starting at 6:45 p.m. Lita Sargent, manager of Tyrone Square Mall, will speak about changes taking place at the mall, and the neighborhood's new codes inspector Maureen Barnes will be introduced.

TWIN BROOKS: neighborhood association will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 3500 18th Ave. S. The traffic plan will be discussed.

To submit information for Neighborhood Notebook, contact Katie Wilson by e-mail at KTWils@aol.com or by phone at 742-8838.

[Last modified June 19, 2005, 00:38:17]