In wake of pedestrian death, Tampa City Council calls for improvements in city's infrastructure

As they entered the roadway, the two women never saw the 1999 Lincoln Continental being driven by 25-year-old Daryl Oliver, who said he didn't see them at all (he has not been cited). Oliver struck the two women and their babies at the same time. Shanita Little and her 22-month-old, Marquisha U.Wilson, are in stable condition as of Thursday morning.

At Thursday's City Council meeting, Councilman Frank Reddick said he wanted a report from the city's Public Works Department to see what would be needed to install a sidewalk in the area. He remarked that there is a magnet school (Williams Middle Magnet School) and two apartment complexes in the immediate vicinity of the accident, meaning that there are a considerable amount of vulnerable pedestrians in that area. He also wanted to call Tampa Electric Company to the council to discuss providing more lightning in the area.

He received verbal support from virtually everyone else on the council, including Mike Suarez, who said that because his child attends Williams Magnet, he travels in the area every single weekday, and said it was unfortunate that it took such a tragedy to wake the community up for the need for such basic infrastructure.

"There’s a lot of dangerous situations that have not happened yet," he remarked about the combination of a lack of a sidewalk and adequate lighting around the school.

Councilwoman Lisa Montelione mentioned what is always painfully apparent - that Tampa (and the Tampa Bay area) remains one of the most dangerous areas in the country for pedestrians. She referred to the fact that East Hillsborough Avenue is a county road, so perhaps they help assist in the construction of a sidewalk. "This area is greatly in need of improvements," she said.

Councilwoman Mary Mulhern called the incident "very sad," and said the lack of sidewalks is something that she has been discussing for years while serving on the Livable Roads Committee on the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Organization. She said the emphasis has been on creating sidewalks in school areas, and called for a motion on having the city's legal department help codify that type of safety priority.