Friendship Trail to get phone line

Emergencies on the former Gandy Bridge prompt Pinellas to pay for phone service.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 2, 2000

The Friendship Trail on the old Gandy Bridge is a 2.6-mile stretch of concrete with no emergency phones. But paramedics and firefighters have responded to 57 emergencies on the trail since it opened in December.

On Tuesday, Pinellas County commissioners voted to spend $10,000 to run a phone cable to the old bridge and install an emergency phone.

"Currently, there is no way to summon 911 assistance," County Administrator Fred Marquis wrote in a memo to commissioners. "A telephone in this remote area has the potential to save lives in time-critical situations."

In March, a skater died of a head injury she suffered on the trail. Beverly Ann Folsom, 51, was skating down the bridge's hump without a helmet when her feet shot out from under her.

She hit the back of her head on the pavement and fell into a coma for 18 hours before she died.

Folsom's family prodded officials to implement safety measures on the trail.

"I know there should be some sort of phone there," said Folsom's sister-in-law, Paulette Garwacki. She also suggested a handrail on the bridge's hump.

Officials decided against a rail, saying it could be dangerous. Instead, they decided to post signs saying helmets and safety gear are "highly recommended for all bicyclists and skaters."

After Folsom's death, several other skaters came forward to say they had broken ribs, skinned knees and bad bruises from falls or collisions on the bridge.

The Pinellas County Parks Department maintains the trail. About 2,000 to 5,000 people a week use it. Since it opened Dec. 11, emergency workers have responded to two traumatic injuries on the bridge, 32 other medical emergencies and 23 other calls for help, Marquis said.

Pinellas County already had received a $20,000 state Emergency Medical Services grant and had planned to spend it on satellite telephones for medical emergencies. Commissioners decided Tuesday to use half to put a phone on the bridge.

"That's great. It's needed," said Frank Miller, president of Friendship Trail Corp., the new park's fundraising arm.

"More and more people carry cell phones, but some don't. If you've walked out to the middle of the bridge, you could be 15 minutes from getting off it."

The phone would ring to Pinellas County emergency dispatchers. It was not clear Tuesday exactly where the phone would be located or when it would be installed.

Nance Schapira, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County Emergency Dispatch Operations, said she knew of no plans to install a 911 line on the Hillsborough side of the bridge.

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