Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Railroad track fixes ahead

Dr. Delay Navigating South Pinellas

By LORRIE LYKINS, Times Correspondent
Published November 11, 2007

Woe to those of us for various reasons who travel Park Boulevard. If you've ever tried to head north or south on weekend days past the Wagon Wheel flea market, you know what I mean. Vehicles shoot in and out of traffic, make illegal U-turns, tailgate and cross three lanes of traffic to pull into the flea market entrance at the last possible moment. The swarm of ill-mannered crazy drivers around the nearby Sam's Club is just as bad. And unless you're driving a tank, the jarring ride over the railroad tracks near 58th Street is pretty difficult to ignore.

Reader Malcolm Johnson agrees. He wrote: "There used to be rubber pads on the railroad track crossing on Park Boulevard in the center of Pinellas Park. It looks like they are now gone, and once again the ride over the tracks is like a moon crater ride. There was some median construction there, but the tracks did not appear to be part of it. Are the rubber pads going to be replaced, or is this an early Christmas present to auto mechanics?"

We spoke with Scott Pinheiro, Pinellas Park's engineering services director, who said that the Florida Department of Transportation has done a temporary fix on the crossing that involves pouring asphalt where they removed the rubber pads, which had come loose and were lifting up as vehicles passed over them. DOT and CSX will permanently fix the crossing soon, adding a softer material like that used to refurbish the crossing on Bryan Dairy Road.

PARK STREET

Annoying speed bump a product of requests

A speed bump may be a thing of beauty to some, an annoying asphalt carbuncle to others. Case in point: judging by our mail, lots of readers seem to be irritated by the recently installed hump on Park Street. Ken Schoettle wrote: "Can anyone tell me what the justification is for having 15 mph speed bumps in a 30 mph speed zone on Park Street west of South Pasadena? Either the speed limit is 15 mph or 30 mph. Park Street is heavily traveled, and the speed bumps are ridiculous."

Speed bumps don't just magically appear in the streets; they are usually installed at the behest of residents in the area who go through a fairly extensive process before the traffic-calming devices are approved and installed. This includes gathering signatures on petitions from residents and working with the city to study traffic volume and speeds.

Mike Frederick, the city's manager of neighborhood transportation, told us that the members of the Old Pasadena Neighborhood voted in September 2004 to approve a neighborhood traffic plan that included a speed hump on Park Street just west of Pasadena Avenue.

And, Frederick said, there's more to come in the same area.

A "round-about" traffic circle will soon be installed on Park Street at Villagrande.

GANDY/FOURTH STREET

Traffic count may lead to signal adjustments

Development in the Gandy/Fourth Street area has no doubt affected traffic. A reader who lives in the Vantage Point community, directly west of Derby Lane, wrote to say that something needs to be done about the interminable traffic signal that controls southbound traffic on Fourth Street turning left (east) onto Gandy Boulevard, especially during evening rush hour.

Craig Beard wrote: "If I come through there between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., it takes three cycles before I get through; this lasts about 10 minutes." Beard thinks that the increased amount of residents living east of Fourth Street has significantly added to the area's traffic volume.

We checked with Rick Napora, a traffic signal systems coordinator for DOT, who said that he will request new traffic counts at the intersection to determine the effect of the condo and single-family home growth east of Fourth Street on traffic volume at that intersection. "When the new counts are complete, I will review that data to determine what signal timing adjustments need to be made at the intersection," Napora said.

Until next week, happy and safe motoring!

Please share your traffic concerns, comments and questions with Dr. Delay via e-mail at docdelay@yahoo.com.

[Last modified November 10, 2007, 22:14:58]