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New lanes ease traffic flow
Construction is almost finished on the northbound bridges over Sunset Point.
By TAMARA EL-KHOURY, Times Staff Writer
Published October 2, 2007
CLEARWATER - The bridges lifting U.S. 19 N over Sunset Point and NE Coachman roads make so much sense, they should have opened long before Monday, said one East Lake resident. "We should have had these flyovers 15 years ago," said Gary Ware, 65, outside the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the U.S. 19 shopping center near Sunset Point Road. The $47-million project to build the bridges is almost done. Two of three northbound lanes opened early Monday morning. Another layer of asphalt and proper road markings still need to be added, said Kris Carson, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation. Construction at the intersections below isn't complete. Work is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Traffic opened on the southbound bridges last year. The northbound lanes opened about 6 a.m. Monday. The project began in 2003. The end of the construction is anticipated to benefit nearby businesses, said Beth Coleman, president of the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce. "I think you will see certainly a difference in the patterns of people going in those areas," she said. The bridges didn't make much difference for Shauna Sava, 32, a St. Pete Beach nurse walking into the Old Navy store at the Sunset Point Road shopping center. She said traffic was still too heavy. "That's why I never come down here," she said. "Because it's too crazy." U.S. 19 north of NE Coachman Road averages 90,000 vehicles per day, according to the DOT. Whatever the vehicle count, North Pinellas traffic is butter-smooth compared with Beltway traffic in Washington, D.C., said Jennifer Jarvie, a postal service manager. She moved to Dunedin from Maryland three months ago. Traffic has flowed better since the bridges opened, she said. But then, it's all a matter of perspective. "Whatever they call heavy traffic here is a light traffic to us," Jarvie said. Two similar bridges are being built on U.S. 19 S at 110th and 118th avenues. Construction started in late 2006 and won't finish until the fall of 2009, Carson said. Tamara El-Khoury can be reached attel-khoury@sptimes.com or 727 445-4181.
[Last modified October 1, 2007, 21:34:58]
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