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Dr. Delay

Toll plaza 'gate tenders' help keep things moving

By LORRIE LYKINS
Published June 19, 2005

Reader Amy Vail is an avid beachgoer. Lately she has noticed that at the Pinellas Bayway toll plaza, attendants are standing next to the correct change basket. She wonders why.

I asked Joanne Hurley, community relations coordinator for Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. Here is what she said:

"The Pinellas Bayway is one of the select locations in the Tampa Bay area where "gate tenders' are utilized to facilitate traffic flow through the toll plaza. On weekends, during periods when traffic is heaviest on the Bayway leading to St. Pete Beach, there is a need for customer service representatives - gate tenders - to address customers' problems in order to keep traffic moving smoothly."

Hurley said that sometimes motorists may toss coins and miss the basket. (The doc has experienced this a time or two.) Since it's not a good idea for motorists to back up or get out of a vehicle to retrieve stray coins, this is a good time to have a live person on hand to help out.

Hurley said that sometimes motorists inadvertently wind up in the "exact change" lane or realize too late that they don't have exact change - another example of when a gate tender is appreciated.

Another potential cause of logjams at the toll plazas is motorists unfamiliar with the area. Hurley said that sometimes motorists who are lost and in need of directions sometimes stop in the lanes and wave for help. Understandably, this doesn't go over well with motorists stuck in line behind them. A visible gate tender at the ready to quickly point folks in the right direction keeps the flow of traffic moving at peak usage times.

"Our customer service representatives are some of our most experienced toll collectors. They help ensure that our customers have a safe and convenient travel experience, and they help reduce traffic delays." Hurley said.

With the battle heating up over Wal-Mart's proposed supercenter on Gandy Boulevard, folks are on the lookout for signs of any surveying or building in the area. A reader e-mailed me last week and asked:

"Why are there surveyors' sticks stuck in the middle of the grassy median along Gandy Boulevard from Pinellas Park at least to (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street)?"

Kris Carson of the Florida Department of Transportation said that a future road-widening project on Gandy Boulevard is in the works, but the project is in the preliminary design stage and funding has not been fully allocated.

"We are just starting design on Gandy Boulevard from west of (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N) to east of Fourth Street N (that will) widen Gandy from four to eight lanes with overpasses at Fourth, (King) and 16th Streets. At this point, there is no funding for right of way or construction, just 60 percent design," Carson said.

Stay tuned.

Reader rant of the week: It's that time of year again. Linda Overman is steamed. Here's the note she wrote me recently:

"It's pouring down rain, compliments of Tropical Storm Arlene. We are slowed down on the interstate and other roads because we can't see. People are zooming past us with no headlights on! Doesn't the law state that if you have your wipers on, your lights are to be on, too? Or am I wrong about this one?"

Nope. According to Sgt. Jim Bordner of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, if it's raining, headlights need to be on. "A good rule of thumb is that if your windshield wipers are on your lights should be on. And drivers who have automatic headlight features need to double check because often when it rains it doesn't become darker and the sensors don't turn the lights on. Remember that the purpose of headlights on in the rain is for visibility. By that, we mean that visibility can be impaired by water spray off the road. Headlights don't illuminate your path when it's raining like at night; they need to be on so that drivers will recognize that there is a vehicle there."

Overman's annoyance was exacerbated by a tailgating, cell-phone yammering nitwit. "As we stopped for a light, she nose-dived to keep from hitting us. What the heck are these people thinking?"

Good question. But I think we may be giving these folks entirely too much credit in assuming that they are thinking.

Here's a note from reader Rick Noyes: "Please explain the use and purpose of "stop bars' at intersections."

Sgt. Bordner told me that stop bars are 2-foot thermal lines that are made out of a plastic material that are applied to the road surface. "They are basically the lines that indicate the point at which you are expected to stop at an intersection. For enforcement purposes, once your vehicle crosses the stop bar, you have entered the intersection. They are also used to determine if you have run a red light," Bordner said.

Until next week, happy and safe motoring!

Please share your traffic concerns, comments and questions with Dr. Delay via e-mail at docdelay@yahoo.com

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