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What drove area drivers dotty throughout 2007

Dr. Delay Navigating South Pinellas

By LORRIE LYKINS, Times Correspondent
Published December 30, 2007

The Doc usually observes the close of another year with a review of the things that most affected the motoring public the past 12 months, more specifically, what drove readers batty enough to stop me in Publix, phone me, e-mail, and write letters, some with impressively drawn diagrams of roads and intersections, and others with photos.

Here are some of 2007's most popular or unpopular issues:

The conflict between motorists and cyclists:

Can't we all just get along, or at the very least, share the road with a measure of civility? Apparently not. Bike lanes in St. Petersburg remain a contentious issue with no signs of cooling. Motorists complain about the narrowing of the traffic lanes, and the funds spent on the installation of bike lanes that appear to be underused by cyclists. Ticked-off motorists continually describe cyclists as "arrogant," "elitist," and "self-absorbed road hogs." Cyclists describe motorists similarly.

The hump on northbound Interstate 275 at 54th Avenue N:

The hump has been described by readers as "brutal" and "insane." Motorists persist in hitting the brakes as the road rises slightly here surprising traffic behind them traveling at high speed.

Reader Mike Dispenza wrote: "It's like no one has any idea what's on the other side." It's understandable that some drivers panic if their visibility is even for a moment compromised by a rise or fall or bend in the road, but as Dispenza notes, going from 70 mph to a standstill is just as frightening.

Railroad crossing carcasses left to rot in the sun:

The deterioration of CSX railroad tracks at 13th Avenue N and 20th Street was, as one reader described three years ago, "atrocious" and nothing has changed since then. The tracks are heavily traveled daily by dump trucks and other commercial traffic, which contributes to the ongoing breakdown of the tracks.

"When you cross these tracks, you had better be traveling only about 3-5 mph; otherwise, you may destroy everything under the frame of your car," wrote Phil Whysong, who has been corresponding with the Doc about the CSX tracks for three years.

The city and the state Department of Transportation assure us that the tracks are on CSX's list of tracks to be repaired "soon." In the meantime, we're still waiting, aren't we, Phil?

Motorists with magical powers:

It seems that some motorists have special powers that make things magically disappear, like pedestrian crosswalks and red lights. Cars just fly through pedestrian crosswalks blithely ignoring the other vehicles that are stopped to let people cross safely. And don't get me started on the red-light runners. Those of us who yield to foot traffic and stop when traffic signals turn red must have been absent from driving school the day they handed out the magical powers that give certain motorists a pass on observing traffic laws and common sense conventions. Dang!

The mess that is 38th Avenue N at Third Street:

As we mentioned in September, eastbound 38th Avenue N at Third Street between the Northeast Shopping Center on the south and Gold's Gym to the north can be treacherous for pedestrians. Readers agree and mail continues to pour in, mostly predicting a tragedy waiting to happen because the curve of the road and the visibility obstruction.

We spoke with Mike Frederick, the city's manager of neighborhood transportation, who said that his department had recently finished a road safety audit that identified issues and developed short-, medium- and long-range solutions.

"Simply removing the crosswalk does not address the fact that pedestrians are still wanting to cross the roadway at that location. So we are attempting to make those crosswalks as safe as possible through enforcement until the final solutions can be implemented," Frederick said.

"Maybe some of those fancy crosswalk lights like on 22nd Avenue N would help. As it is (now), those crosswalks are death dodge ball," wrote Keith Loper, a cabbie who says the stretch of road bothers him a lot.

Rough stretches of road on I-275:

Repairs on I-275 south of Tropicana Field has prompted letters of dissatisfaction. One reader, a retired concrete contractor, went so far as to say that the work, in his opinion, sort of stinks. The old concrete paving was sawed, removed, and new concrete was poured, he noted. "But these patches are very rough and should be ground smooth or replaced," said Jim Huston.

John McShaffrey, spokesman for the DOT, said there were both good and bad slabs of concrete identified on that section of I-275, so parts of the road were preserved while other parts were tapped for replacement.

McShaffrey said the new slabs are finished a little high because a grinding process comes at a later date (some of this is already done). It would level both old and new slabs to the same plane and provide a smooth roadway surface. "Were the contractor to try and finish the work more evenly, they would risk creating low spots that could hold water, which would then require deeper grinding than necessary," McShaffrey said.

So that's the roundup for this year, folks. Until next year, happy and safe motoring!

Please e-mail me at docdelay@yahoo.com to share your traffic concerns, comments and questions.

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 23:25:02]