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Neighborhood Report

Stop signs on the way

A traffic study showed that drivers on Hillsborough cut through neighborhood streets.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published August 11, 2006

Neighbors agitated by drivers who cut through their residential streets to avoid traffic on Hillsborough Avenue are getting some relief.

Roy LaMotte Jr., transportation manager for the city's Department of Public Works, said Monday at an Old Seminole Heights neighborhood meeting that crews will place a three-way stop at E Henry Avenue and N 12th Street and a four-way stop at E Comanche Avenue and N 13th Street within the next two weeks.

A traffic study by his department determined that drivers on Hillsborough cut into the neighborhood, and zig-zag from 13th Street to Comanche and Henry for an uninterrupted path to Nebraska Avenue. The stop sign on Henry is designed to slow down drivers to the 25 mph speed limit.

Neighbors were pleased but said they hope the stop signs are the first of many traffic calming measures.

LaMotte said his department also will examine whether they can improve traffic light timing on Hillsborough.

And Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association president Randy Baron said neighbors will collect signatures on a petition to close the stretch of N Ninth Street to Mohawk to traffic turning off Hillsborough.

Neighbor James N. Kwid, whose home is on that zig-zag path, sees the stops as good first steps against cut-through speeders.

"That stop sign there is going to be that first line of defense," Kwid said.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 08:20:32]