FDOT study finds Drew Street lane changes would reduce crashes
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Some neighbors have been worried for years about the safety of Drew Street, and a recent FDOT study found its plans to reduce lanes on a section of the road will dramatically reduce crashes.
"As a driver, it can really be terrible, congested … and those are the only nice things I can say," said Jackie Lee, a Clearwater resident.
FDOT has plans to repave Drew Street, and the area between Osceola Avenue and Keene Road is slated to go from four lanes down to two lanes with a center turning lane.
That stretch goes through a residential area, and FDOT would also include wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
Neighbors like Mike Riordon are concerned over the road’s safety.
"You turn on Drew Street going west, and you go past Chainwheel Drive, 7-Eleven, and all of a sudden it narrows," Riordon said. "I’ve been out there with tape measures and there’s places where the white line curves and you have 9 and a half feet, less than 9 and a half feet."
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The project was originally scheduled to start in 2024, but the project was put on hold in 2023. Recently, FDOT completed a traffic study following a requirement from the state legislature and found reducing lanes would make a difference, cutting the total number of crashes by 57 percent.
"What I have seen indicates to me that it was an affirmation of the prior findings that the lane repurposing west of Keene Road which is a pretty short segment of Drew Street, maintains an acceptable level of service," said Whit Blanton, the executive director of Forward Pinellas.
The planning organization Forward Pinellas’ Blanton said the project, like any transportation plan, has been contentious.
"It’s kind of your mentality of where you sit is where you stand, right? And the downtown business community has some concerns like we might be shutting down access. And some neighborhoods have some concerns that we may be diverting traffic through neighborhoods," said Blanton.
Now, it’s down to FDOT meeting with the Clearwater city council to determine what happens next after city elections in March.
"What I think the department wants to do is brief the new city council members who are seated because the project will be under construction under their tenure on the council," said Blanton.
FDOT’s study found making Drew Street into a two-lane road in that one section would add roughly 30 seconds to travel time.
An FDOT spokesperson said they plan to meet the city council in spring to go over the study’s findings, and construction would now start in 2026.