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How to unclog McMullen-Booth?
No new lanes are coming, but planners have some ideas to keep traffic flowing.
By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published February 5, 2006
SAFETY HARBOR - Martha MacReynolds lives a block off McMullen-Booth Road.
If there were report cards for thoroughfares, she would give it an F.
"It's the worst," said MacReynolds, 56, who retired from her job as a transportation planner in San Francisco.
The grade doesn't surprise county transportation officials, who have been strategizing ways to ease the backups along the bustling corridor.
The congestion is caused by unchecked population growth, out-of-date signal timing and infrastructure shortfalls, said Peter Yauch, the county's transportation director. Those problems are compounded by construction on U.S. 19, which has prompted thousands of commuters to choose McMullen-Booth as an alternate route.
"McMullen-Booth to me is like U.S. 19," said Andy Steingold, a Safety Harbor city commissioner.
The gridlock started when the Bayside Bridge was built in 1993. Officials hoped it would reduce congestion on U.S. 19.
And it did, perhaps too well.
Officials had projected 35,500 vehicles would travel the corridor every day, but it's more like 74,350.
During morning and evening rush hours, commuters "are going nowhere really fast," said Steingold, who organized a Neighborhood Advisory Council meeting last week on the topic.
More than a dozen residents attended the meeting to share their frustrations.
Ken Pereira, who lives in the Old Harbor Place subdivision on McMullen-Booth Road, uses the road every weekday to get to work in Seminole.
"I go on McMullen-Booth, cross three lanes of traffic and then stop (at the median) until someone takes pity on me and lets me in," he said.
Yauch said no new lanes are planned for McMullen-Booth, but the county is working on ways to keep traffic flowing. They could include:
Installing synchronized signal timing to improve traffic flow and making improvements to intersections and at the railroad track.
Increasing mass transit alternatives, like adding PSTA bus routes and initiating van pool and ride share programs.
Making high-tech upgrades, like installing closed circuit TV cameras at intersections to monitor traffic flow or putting up message signs to communicate with drivers about hazards and other useful information.
Particularly troublesome on McMullen-Booth are the interchanges at Sunset Point Road, the light at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Union/Cedar Street, Enterprise Road, State Road 590, State Road 580, Briar Creek Drive, Curlew Road, the Countryside High School area and the light at Mease Hospital.
In September at Steingold's urging, the Metropolitan Planning Organization gave the green light for a signal at Briar Creek Boulevard, the site of 17 car crashes within three years. It will cost between $150,000 to $200,000, and Safety Harbor will pick up the tab.
At Countryside High, the county is thinking about extending the school bus driveway and installing a signal at that location.
At Sunset Point Road, planners may add a northbound turn lane.
But true relief, county officials say, will only come when construction ends on U.S. 19.
"In the next five years there will be an expressway on U.S. 19, and most drivers will end up using it again for their commutes," Yauch said. "This will free up traffic on McMullen-Booth."
After the neighborhood meeting Tuesday, City Commissioner Kara Bauer quipped: "You know those old bumper stickers "Pray for Me, I drive U.S. 19?' We need one that says "Don't wait for me. I drive McMullen-Booth Road."
Eileen Schulte can be reached at 727 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com
FAST FACTS ABOUT TRAFFIC
In 1991, 26,000 cars passed through the McMullen-Booth Road and Main Street interchange daily. That number increased to 76,100 in 2004.
McMullen-Booth Road traffic at the Curlew Road interchange increased from 17,400 in 1991 to 64,800 in 2004.
In Tampa Bay, the average traveler is delayed by traffic for 46 hours per year. This adds up to $775 in lost time and wasted fuel annually.
In the Tampa Bay area, 29,098,000 gallons of excess fuel are burned per year by cars stuck in gridlock.
Source: Peter Yauch, director of transportation for the Pinellas Public Works Department.
[Last modified February 5, 2006, 01:22:20]
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