ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gulfport and St. Pete leaders are addressing one of the deadliest roads in Pinellas County. A study highlighted the dangers of 49th Street South from St. Pete to Gulfport.
Forward Pinellas said their traffic study shows 49th Street South has had numerous fatal and significant injury crashes. The group said the main reason is because of speeding.
The busy corridor is home to many businesses like Seasons of Care Early Learning, where Linda Garvey has worked for the last 10 years. She said she’s seen many accidents over the years.
“I'm praying and hoping they don't crash into the building,” Garvey said.
Chelsea Fevaro with Forward Pinellas said about 3% of the roadways in the county have about 80% of crashes that result in a death or serious injuries.
“This roadway is in that network,” Fevaro said.
Forward Pinellas hopes to bring in more safety measures to slow down traffic.
“The community has asked us to look at repurposing the middle lanes on this roadway and creating a dedicated center turn lane. So, we're going to be working with the cities to explore that a bit further to see if that will be able to slow down traffic down a bit and provide some more safety for bicyclists and pedestrians,” Fevaro said.
Garvey believes more should be done for traffic coming onto 49th Street.
“They actually cross over four lanes to get to Gulfport if you come to 18th Ave S.,” Garvey said.
Not only to help drivers, but our youngest pedestrians as well to go to the crossing guard which is on 20th Avenue South.
“We do have an elementary school right there and it's hard for children to cross 18th Ave south going to Gulfport,” Garvey said.
Each city will put $750,000 towards completing this project. Forward Pinellas said before they start making any changes, they're going to conduct more studies in the area to make sure it's the right move.
Business owners in the area said slowing down traffic will help them by increasing their visibility.