The speed limit on Bayshore Boulevard will be lowered from 40 mph to 35 mph starting Friday.
The change was announced a day after Jessica Raubenolt, 24, of Jeromesville, Ohio was killed and her daughter was injured when they were struck by vehicles while crossing the roadway.
The city of Tampa will begin posting new speed limit signs along the boulevard. Message boards announcing the change are being installed.
The city says the change is part of an ongoing project to make Bayshore safer for pedestrians and drivers.
Initially, the change to lower the speed limit wasn’t going to come for months; it was planned in October along with other upgrades.
Jean Duncan, director of Transportation and Stormwater Services for Tampa, tells us the process for safety improvements is a slow one. She first submitted paperwork to the Federal Highway Administration to get funding for Bayshore in 2006.
Twelve years later, projects to improve this area are finally approved.
Duncan says the projects also included narrowing the existing travel lanes down to 10 feet from Howard Avenue to Gandy Boulevard along with raising the curb.
There have been no additional plan to increase those projects.
Mary Jane Rickle and Shawn Yuskaitis with Bike Walk Tampa have been pushing city leaders for years to get the speed limit lowered.
While they’re sad it took a death to make the change, they hope that decrease will help prevent another tragic incident.
The city also clarified that the mother was crossing in a crosswalk. While the crosswalk was not marked, drivers are required to stop for pedestrians.
“We're very thoughtful. We follow some federal and state criteria on how to decide on where to put stripes and where not to put stripes. It's not just an amenity that we want to have everywhere,” says Duncan.
A vigil to honor Reisinger, along with her toddler who is continuing to fight for her life in the hospital, will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Knights and Bayshore.
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