In the wake of the death of the penny sales tax that would have launched major transit improvements in Hillsborough, the county to the west is picking up where its neighbor left off.
At a meeting held yesterday in downtown Clearwater, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Pedestrian Transportation Advisory Committee discussed plans for transportation improvements.
The main topic on the table was pedestrian safety. Currently, Florida has the highest cycling and pedestrian fatality rate in the nation at 6.82 people per million population, nearly triple the national rate according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Florida led the country in the number of bicyclists killed, with 125 in 2008, the most recent year for which national data is available. Over the past few months, Tampa Bay has seen more than nine bicyclist deaths. Pinellas leads as the county with the most pedestrian-related deaths.
Change is on the way. Over the next six months, Brian Smith, the director of the committee, said a new law passed by the Florida Department of Transportation will make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street. The “Stop for Pedestrians” legislation will change signs at all mid-block crossings throughout the state from “yield for pedestrians” to “stop for pedestrians.” Changing the wording of the signs will end the “cat and mouse in the crosswalk for who is going to go first,” Smith said.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2010.
