Residents of Shore Acres reject plan to calm traffic

Some in Shore Acres said the proposal was too sweeping. The traffic committee will appeal to the City Council.

By ANDREW MEACHAM

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Shore Acres residents turned out in force last week to reject an extensive traffic-calming plan proposed by the neighborhood association.

The 444-379 vote effectively kills any speed bumps, raised intersections or other vehicle-slowing devices for at least two years, unless an appeal to the City Council succeeds.

Some residents might have approved a more limited strategy, said Tim Dolan, a software engineer who opposed the plan.

"We'd like to have some time to adjust to a few of these devices and opt for more later if we felt the need," said Dolan, 44. "But to go ahead and place in such a density of these devices kind of turned people off."

Theresa Gay, who chairs the traffic committee, was disappointed with the decision and said the committee will appeal to the City Council. She wondered aloud whether a late effort by opponents of the plan may have swayed residents who dropped off their ballots at a Tuesday meeting.

"As the 'yes' people, we hadn't planned for any type of attack mode," said Gay, 36, a stay-at-home mom.

Dolan said he had passed out fliers to residents at the Shore Acres Recreation Center. The plan's opponents mobilized late, he said, and several spoke as residents were dropping off their votes.

That informal meeting marks a turning point in the voting.

Ballots that had been mailed in or dropped off at the city's traffic and transportation office were running 237 to 218 in favor of the plan. The trend shifted among votes delivered at the meeting, with 137 in favor and 219 opposed. (An additional 12 votes were received late with Jan. 30 postmarks, the last acceptable day.) In all, 37 percent of the 2,360 ballots to registered home owners were returned, but 57 were not counted because of irregularities.

The result leaves the association's traffic committee with little to show for nine months of planning. Traffic calming advocates could appeal to the City Council for a more limited version, said Michael Frederick, a neighborhood transportation manager.

"They could say, 'Everybody on our street voted in favor of this; let our street go through,' " Frederick said. Barring a successful appeal, city policy prevents further traffic calming action for two years, said Frederick's boss, former traffic and transportation director Angelo Rao. In a reorganization ordered by Mayor David Fischer, Rao became assistant director of Engineering, Stormwater and Transportation, and his old department was eliminated.

The overlapping functions of those departments became apparent as opponents of the Shore Acres plan cited dangers of raised asphalt to storm drainage in a low-lying area. Department director Michael Connors stopped well short of opposing Shore Acres traffic calming.

"As any plan moves forward, extreme care and consideration should be given to existing flooding concerns," Connors said.

Some of those who had supported the plan feel demoralized, Gay said.

"I had traffic committee people saying to me, 'Well, it's time to get out the For Sale signs,' " she said.

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