Tampa Is…?

I’m sure you’ve heard about the little tourist kid – a five-year old girl from Connecticut – that was killed after being run over along Gulf Blvd (they still haven’t found the driver). And the woman who accidentally ran over her nephew. On Sunday a man ended up in the ICU after getting hit by a car. And there was the woman found laying in the middle of Park Boulevard on Friday – she’s dead. I could go further back, finding three or four each week. Or just recall Jennifer Porter and the 22nd St. mess or the foggy midnight roller skater.

It amounts to the same – cars are killing people. And the bad drivers get 15 chances or more. If you have to cross a street, find a crosswalk. Not only is it safer, it’s healthy for you too.

Yesterday, Mayor Pam announced her plans to make Bayshore Boulevard safer. Unfortunately, those plans do not include additional traffic lights, slower speeds, or crosswalks.

Coincidentally that same day, a study from the Surface Transportation Policy Project announced that the Tampa MSA is ranked atop (dead first, so to speak) the most dangerous places for pedestrians (pdf file, page 18 & 19). Suggestions to improve pedestrian safety from STPP include slowing traffic and adding sidewalks and crosswalks. The Times has the AP Story:

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, characterized by traffic speeding along eight-lane boulevards, was ranked first for its dangerous roads, with 3.69 deaths per 100,000 people in 2002-2003.

More from STPP:

Mean Streets 2004 found that the most dangerous streets in America are clustered in Florida: Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale are the top four, while Jacksonville ranks eighth.

Rachel and Costa and have had blog posts discussing a lack of effort (lack of desire, really) to make the Tampa Bay area more pedestrian-friendly. But we all need to take a look at this, and the local communities, as well as the State of Florida need to make a serious commitment to pedestrians. Mayor Pam’s half-ass solution to Bayshore will not cut it.