Community weighs in on Gulf Blvd. safety as city looks to make improvements

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Gulf Blvd. is at the center of the action and the traffic in St. Pete Beach and the city is looking to improve traffic safety for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and anyone else on the roads.

On Thursday night, the city held its second Gulf Boulevard Safety Study workshop and presented the results of their safety survey. It shows what's lacking like faded crosswalks that need repainting, unprotected bike lanes with no barrier separating traffic and sidewalks with no pedestrian-scale lighting.

"People drive too fast on Gulf Boulevard. They're at the beach. They don't need to be in a hurry," St. Pete Beach resident Julianne Causey said.

As more and more people move to the area, the city is looking at safety improvement projects on Gulf Blvd.

"Just the road’s really busy," Ben Minnich explained. "It’s nice to be able to walk from the resorts to the restaurants and everything like that, but busy roads, young kid, walking around doesn’t give you a great feeling of comfort and safety."

File: Gulf Blvd.

Some people say the traffic and safety concerns are some of the first things they notice on Gulf Blvd.

RELATED: Couple killed while crossing Gulf Boulevard in St. Petersburg

"What we found through the study is, there are several parts of St. Pete Beach, or Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach that have higher crash rates, especially for pedestrians," Nousheen Rahman, a principal planner with Forward Pinellas said.

Forward Pinellas is working with the city and FDOT to study data and get the public’s input to drive new safety improvement projects.

"That's something that we really want to prioritize and make sure that pedestrian and bicycle safety, is also considered in this and not just driver safety," Rahman said.

Rahman says a safety study looked at crash data from 2017 to 2021, specifically in about a 2.5-mile stretch of Gulf Blvd, from 75th Avenue to 35th Avenue.

"And for this segment of Gulf Boulevard, we found that there were 422 crashes, in that four-year period," she explained.

She says this data and the community’s input will be included in a full safety report that will recommend projects that are a top priority.

Rahman says there have been discussions about several projects.

READ: Three pedestrian deaths shines light on need for safer roads in Tampa Bay

"Pedestrian crossing improvements, improvements to the sidewalks, signal improvements," Rahman shared. "It is essentially a consideration of all the different ways that a roadway could be made safer."

File: Gulf Blvd.

The city is hoping these solutions can help make that dream a reality like one which widens the sidewalk and adds a landscaping barrier separating it from the road. Another concept offers buffered bike lanes with no landscaping. A third option has bike lanes and sidewalks protected by landscaping, which was one of the most popular options among residents like Claudine Reece.

"Oftentimes, with those tiny bicycle lanes, they'll weave back and forth. I'm always afraid I'm going to see something. On my way here, I thought I was going to see a young man hit and killed," Reece said.

Forward Pinellas will work with the city to help it secure federal funding to complete some of these future projects.

Residents and visitors would also like to see certain changes to help improve overall safety.

"If there was a curb with some trees, some palm trees," Minnich said. "Something like that in between would add to the aesthetic, and also feel a little more comfortable to walk back and forth."

SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter