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Stop, look twice as streets change

A downtown St. Petersburg street is no longer one-way.

By ROBBYN MITCHELL
Published June 18, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Karen Davis was leaving her job as the supervisor of the Starbucks in the Hilton St. Petersburg and turned onto First Street S.

A car horn blasted her out of her routine.

She had turned her black Ford Explorer into oncoming traffic, one of many people who have been confused by the recent conversion of First Street S, which is now a two-way street.

"I didn't have an accident, but the car blew its horn and scared me," she said. "They just didn't give enough notice."

The change took place June 7, when the former four-lane northbound track became two northbound lanes and one southbound lane.

The change in the former one-way street, between Central Avenue and Fifth Avenue S, is playing to mixed reviews.

Local businesses including the Mahaffey Theater, University of South Florida St. Petersburg and Progress Energy Park, supported the change because it would help customers get to them more easily.

The change was spurred in large part by the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Michael Conners, the city's internal services administrator, said the city was spending $10,000 a year to convert Second Street S into a two-lane street temporarily because the race ran down First Street.

To save money, the city changed Second Street permanently in March and held two public hearings about whether First Street also should be converted.

The meetings were required by law as a part of the city's Comprehensive Plan Amendment that says any changes made to a downtown area must be discussed in a public meeting before put into action.

"The conversion of both streets cost less than $100,000," Conners said.

The speed limit on First Street S hasn't changed, but Conners said he expects the new setup will reduce speeding by frequent lane changers.

Bojana Jokic, a student at the USF St. Petersburg, is convinced that one day she'll forget about the conversion and have an accident on the way to school.

"It's like you know the streets and then all of a sudden they change them," said Jokic, who lives in Pinellas Park.

Fellow students and bikers, Laura Miller and Amanda Grelock, said they are suffering the most through the untimely change.

Both ride bicycles from their homes to school and then to work at the Starbucks at the Hilton.

"People around here don't know how to drive, and it used to be that I only had to look one way for traffic," Miller said.

She said the bike lane had much more space in the past and now in heavy traffic she has to take the sidewalk instead.

Grelock, who bikes from Fourth Street N, said the whole ordeal has been very inconvenient for her daily travel. She and Miller said they were unaware of the public hearing and want to know if biker safety was taken into consideration when plans were made.

"I just don't understand why it has to be a two-way," Grelock added.

Some area workers are much more enthused by the change.

Rod Goodwin, a delivery man for DHL, said the change has made his job much easier. Goodwin regularly delivers packages to the Northern Trust Bank on First Street S and on occasion to the Hilton next door. Goodwin said he used to have to drive around the block to get to the Hilton, or even back up the inner left lane before. Since his deliveries can take him in either direction, Goodwin said the two-way street is ideal in taking time off his dropoff schedule.

A block away, Yvonne Turner, a stylist at Bayfront Hair Design, is psyched for a whole different reason. "I heard that the change was going to create more parking so I'm all for it," Turner mused.

She said she doesn't believe the street should cause any major problems for the area, as long as everything is properly labeled.

"I've already turned the wrong way once but I'm getting used to it now."

Kevin Kelly, who lives in Bayfront Tower, said he knows all about street changes, having grown up in Tampa and living in St. Petersburg for 18 years.

Downtown streets are always subject to change, he said. However, he said St. Petersburg seems to be worlds away when it comes to traffic regulation. "It's just so much better here," Kelly said. "As long as they do it the right way, the change shouldn't be a problem."

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 07:40:06]