Downtown St. Pete road project to bring pedestrian safety improvements

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Florida Department of Transportation and the City of St. Petersburg are working on pedestrian safety improvements in downtown.

The project started this week, and crews are building curb bulb-outs at 10 intersections along 4th Street between 5th Avenue North and 5th Avenue South. Bulb-outs are extensions of the sidewalk that give pedestrians more space, Kris Carson, a spokesperson for FDOT, said.

"We wanted to make sure St. Pete was walkable, but we’re actually building bulb-outs that are also called curb extensions to help make pedestrians more visible," she said. "We want to make sure motorists see pedestrians. By building these bulb-outs, we can slow down traffic, and it really helps reduce the overall crash rate."

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According to Carson, a similar project was done on 3rd Street two years ago. Officials with the city asked DOT to take a look at adding bulb-outs on 4th Street too.

"We got with our team here, and we decided that it would be a really great project for 4th Street as well. It has been very successfully used on other streets, and we’ll continue to take a look at where we can add these," Carson said. "It has to be appropriate, but bulb-outs or curb extensions is really a great way to reduce the speeds and make the roadways safer for pedestrians and motorists."

Carson said FDOT looks at crash rates, pedestrians who are injured, hit or killed and other factors in engineering studies they do before choosing an area to start a project in.

She said from 2015 to 2019, there were 364 crashes along the almost mile stretch of 4th Street where the sidewalk extensions are being put in. Seventeen of those crashes involved pedestrians and another 17 involved biclyists.

"It’s extremely important," Carson said about the project. "The Department of Transportation, our passion, our first priority is safety. That’s something we’re really trying to do in the state of Florida is reduce our pedestrian crashes, our pedestrian fatalities, so it’s extremely important to DOT, it’s important to the city as well. They’re great partners with us and essentially, this is a safety project, but it’s also an economic development, and we want to make sure people feel safe walking around the area all over Tampa Bay."

"People think 3rd Street and 4th Street are the Indy 500 and they’re not," Yvonne Ray said.

Ray lives near 4th Street and uses a scooter to get around.

"I can hear them screeching down the street and I keep praying and hoping nobody gets hit," she said.

Ray said the bulb-outs will make a difference when it comes to pedestrian safety.

"I’m extremely excited upon its completion because then I won’t feel as scared crossing even in the twilight hours you know around six a.m. or walking my dog around sundown," Ray said.

"Once they get a lot more completed, I’d give it at least a seven maybe an eight, but at this point in time with all I know of in downtown I’d give it a five," Ray said rating pedestrian safety in downtown St. Pete. 

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St. Pete's Transportation and Parking Management Director Evan Mory released the following statement: 

"Public safety is the number one priority in the City of St. Petersburg, and city leaders are thankful for the Florida Department of Transportation’s significant investment in the portion of 4th street that travels through the heart of downtown.

This project is part of a focused strategy that has been implemented successfully on many other roadways in downtown St. Petersburg over the past two decades.

Our downtown is now nationally known and recognized as being highly walkable and these improvements to 4th street will make the area even safer for pedestrians.

In addition to the safety upgrades and enhanced quality of life, it’s also an important economic development project for those who live in, work in, and visit downtown St. Petersburg."

Monday, crews closed 4th Avenue South just west of the US 92 intersection at 4th Street South while they work to install new storm pipes and structures before they can build the bulb-outs. The closure will last about two weeks until Jan. 20 at midnight. 

Southbound traffic on 4th Street South won’t be affected. Drivers can detour around the work by going westbound on 3rd Avenue South, then southbound on 5th Street South.

There are warning signs and electronic message boards in the area to tell drivers about the closure.

The project will cost about $2.7 million and is expected to be completed in early 2024. The contractor is Burgess Civil LLC.