HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A road project on Florida Avenue and Tampa Street aims at slowing down drivers and improving safety in the area.
The project has been in the works for years, but Wednesday the Transportation Planning Organization Board will vote on whether or not they want to free up money now to get the project started sooner.
The project will bring a lot of changes to the area. It will improve drainage, slow down speeders, and improve walkability.
The overall goal is safety, which is something Johnny Wong, the executive planner at the Transportation Planning Organization, said is much needed.
“What it could mean for the community is definitely safety, like if you look at this area in just the past five years, there's been almost 400 crashes,” Wong said.
Fast drivers and a lack of crosswalks create a recipe for disaster along Florida Avenue and Tampa Street in the Tampa Heights area, according to FDOT officials.
“It's a safety concern really on most of our roads but especially in areas like this. Urban areas or even residential areas like Tampa Street we want to keep the traffic going slow,” Tracy Hood with the Florida Department of Transportation said.
FDOT said the construction will pull the curb lines into the roadway to create narrower lanes and a wider sidewalk for walkers and bikers.
Hood said the narrow roadway will force drivers to slow down.
“We're also putting in mid-block crosswalks that will allow pedestrians to cross, but that will help reduce the speed as well,” Hood said.
FDOT said they will also install a more expansive drainage system. The TPO board will consider moving to fiscal year 2024 to speed up the process and get started on construction sooner.
“There is already money committed to doing the improvements. The TPO will consider whether or not to accelerate that funding,” Wong said. “If we can push about $3 million forward to this fiscal year, the DOT can start doing design sooner, and the following fiscal year, construction can start and hopefully deliver the project a little earlier than expected.”
If the TPO board votes yes on Wednesday, construction will start in the summer of 2024.
