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U.S. 19 overpass opens at Drew Street

The overpass at one of the state's most dangerous intersections should relieve traffic and improve safety.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published December 10, 2005

CLEARWATER - The latest in a series of major interchange projects on U.S. 19 is up and running.

The northbound lanes of the new overpass at U.S. 19 and Drew Street welcomed their first cars Sunday night. The southbound lanes opened Wednesday.

The opening "went very smoothly," Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kris Carson said Friday.

The opening is expected to bring relief not only to road-weary drivers but also to police and rescue workers who have seen far too many fatal wrecks at the intersection.

In 2001, State Farm Insurance put U.S. 19's crossings at Drew Street, Sunset Point Road and Tampa Road on its list of the 10 most dangerous intersections in Florida.

"Speed is what made the collisions stupefyingly dangerous there," Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. The speed limit on U.S. 19 is 55 mph, compared to 45 mph on Drew Street.

By separating north-south and east-west traffic,"I think the flyover will make all the difference in the world," he said. "This will change it to a much safer intersection."

The six-lane, $30-million interchange, also called a flyover, is intended to make travel more efficient by taking faster-moving U.S. 19 traffic over Drew Street.

There are already a few flyovers along U.S. 19, including the ones at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, East Bay Road, Ulmerton Road and State Road 580.

Over the next five years, about $160-million in state money will be spent constructing interchanges along a 13-mile stretch of U.S. 19. Each project takes about four years to complete.

It is expected that 75,000 cars and trucks a day will use the flyover, Carson said.

The Drew Street project began in September 2002. Although the road is open to traffic, there is still work to be done on a median barrier wall, and some traffic signal equipment still needs to be installed, Carson said.

In north Pinellas, interchanges also will be constructed at:

Coachman and Sunset Point roads at a cost of $46.3-million. Already under construction, these interchanges are scheduled to be complete summer of 2007.

Enterprise Road. Cost: $42-million. Construction scheduled to begin in 2007.

Belleair Road. Cost: $67-million. Construction scheduled to begin in 2009.

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:51:18]