Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

White lights, green cash mix to make U.S. 19 safer

Pasco motorists should take note of the white and green intended to improve safety along U.S. 19.

We don't mean the green and white sheriff patrol cars even though a police presence helps curb speeding and aggressive driving tactics. Rather, the latest white and green comes in the form of bright lights and big dollars.

The federal transportation bill approved by Congress last week includes $5.76-million for a continuous right-hand turn lane on U.S. 19 in Pasco County. It is the same project, expected to cost $14.5-million plus design expenses, that state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, previously worked to include in the state Department of Transportation five-year construction plan. Now, there is federal money earmarked to accelerate the effort, thanks to U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, who answered the lobbying call from Pasco County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand.

It is welcome news. A continuous turn lane is expected to help curb the crashes coming from slower-moving traffic seeking access to a local business. That highlights one of the road's shortcomings: it serves dual purposes.

U.S. 19, nearly 20 miles from Pinellas to Hernando, is the westernmost north-south road through Pasco County. It is a local road serving as the only entrance and exit points for many businesses and neighborhoods, but also a major commuter route. Motorists running a quick errand must share the road with through-traffic traveling to neighboring counties and spots in between. In Pasco, the road has 28 intersections with traffic signals, 40 school bus stops for 13 schools, intermittent sidewalks and limited bike paths.

Until recently, it also featured extended lengths of darkness. But the state DOT installed street lights on most of U.S. 19 after Pasco County agreed to pick up a portion of the annual maintenance costs. Though the project was announced more than three years ago, installation just came in the past few months.

Lighting is imperative. Sixty-nine pedestrians were killed walking on or near U.S. 19 between 1990 and 2001 when local governments stepped up efforts to improve safety. The most common factors in the fatalities were jaywalking and nighttime accidents. The lack of street lighting, few sidewalks, and frequent curb and median cuts that allow near universal traffic access to U.S. 19 all contribute to the deadly road.

Social issues beyond the scope of public safety officials - poverty and the accompanying lack of reliable transportation coupled with alcohol abuse - mean pedestrian safety on U.S. 19 won't be solved simply with capital spending. Still, additional lighting makes the highway safer for everyone, not just people trying to cross it.

Proceeds from the Penny for Pasco sales tax increase will pay for channelization of median cuts to eliminate the free-for-all middle turn lanes along many sections of the road. That, coupled with the federal appropriation, equal to nearly half the cost of the continuous right-hand turn lane, will be significant improvements.

(Though the death rate has been dropping, U.S. 19 remains the county's most dangerous road, the scene of 21 of the 76 highway fatalities in Pasco in 2004.)

The federal money "just gives us a boost up," said Hildebrand, chair of the U.S. 19 safety task force. "(It) will certainly help to get the engine running."

Indeed. It is a gratifying step toward a safer Pasco road network.

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 01:05:20]