St. Pete's Central Avenue could one day be pedestrian-only

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The city of St. Petersburg is flirting with an idea of converting parts of Central Avenue into pedestrian-only areas. That would mean closing parts of Central Avenue to vehicles.

The idea was brought up during the recent St. Pete 2050 brainstorm session to lay out a vision for how the city will look 30 years from now.  

Evan Mory, the city's transportation director, says Lincoln Road in Miami Beach and the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver are perfect examples of how the idea could work.

The city already shuts down parts of Central Avenue for street fairs and festivals, like First Friday, so it's not a totally unknown concept.

“As we look at 2050, we are not dismissing any ideas, but they shouldn’t be rushed into either,” he told FOX 13 Wednesday. “For the near term, it would be small sections for small periods of time and just do what we are already doing more.”

He says there is no game plan. It's still just an idea, of which they are open to testing.