January 22, 1998
City Council Backs
North Shore Traffic PlanBy Timothy J. Baker
THE CITY COUNCIL at its January 15 meeting backed the North Shore Neighborhood Traffic Plan.
The council action, while not yet final, means that the stop signs installed as part of Phase I of the Neighborhood Traffic Plan most probably can stay in place.
The council is in the midst of revising the city's Comprehensive Plan, which has been in place for some five years. At the January 15 meeting, the council gave preliminary approval to numerous revisions that had been proposed by the city staff.
Among those revisions was a return to "local" status of several streets in the North Shore neighborhood that had been designated as "collectors" for the arterial system.
IT IS THAT change in status that means the installed stop signs can remain.
The Comprehensive Plan includes a section called the Traffic Circulation Element, which details the city's goals and policies with regards to traffic flow. Part of that traffic element is a map that designates which of the city's streets are considered to be "collectors" that feed traffic into the interstate system.
Until now, a number of streets in the North Shore area have been designated as collectors, including 9th Avenue, Bay Street, Beach Drive, 1st Street and 22nd Avenue.
The staff recommended that the collector status be removed from 9th Avenue NE; 9th Avenue N between 1st and 4th Streets; Bay Street; and 1st Street between 9th and 22nd Avenues.
DURING A PUBLIC hearing, some 20 residents of the North Shore area spoke in favor of the staff recommendations. They told the council that the stop signs had slowed traffic through the neighborhood, cutting down on accidents and injuries, and generally improving the quality of life.
Several representatives of the NSNA were among those speaking in support of the Neighborhood Traffic Plan. NSNA President Lane Lastinger suggested that the council further amend the Comprehensive Plan to remove collector status from 1st Street between 22nd and 30th Avenues, to allow Phase II of the Neighborhood Traffic Plan to proceed.
During the council debate, strong support was shown for the traffic plan, which is designed to calm traffic flow through the neighborhood, without actually re-routing anybody. Only council member Connie Kone seemed to be opposed.
MRS. KONE REPRESENTS the northeast area of St. Petersburg and has received complaints from her constituents that the stop signs are a nuisance. She wondered whether slowing traffic through North Shore might make it too difficult for residents of other neighborhoods to get downtown.
She also suggested that stricter enforcement of speed limits might accomplish what the neighborhood wants. Council member Jay Lasita supported the stop signs and said the city would never have enough money in its budget to hire sufficient police officers to strictly enforce speed limits.
Angelo Rao, head of the city's traffic department, told the council that the installation of the stop signs had caused some drivers to shift to other routes, especially 4th Street. However, he said that 4th Street had enough capacity to handle the increase.
Mrs. Kone complained that more comprehensive traffic studies should have been done before the staff made its recommendations.
Council member Kathleen Ford, who lives in the Old Northeast, proposed the amendment that Mr. Lastinger had asked for - removing the collector status from 1st Street N between 22nd and 30th, as well as between 9th and 22nd.
Mr. Rao said that the staff had not recommended including the northern section of 1st Street because the traffic volume there is high enough to warrant designation as a collector.
AFTER CONSIDERABLE DEBATE, the amendment was approved by a vote of 5 to 3. Voting against the amendment were Mrs. Kone, Ernest Fillyau and Bea Griswold. Mr. Fillyau and Mrs. Griswold both offered general support to the traffic-calming efforts in the neighborhood, but said they could not vote in favor of the amendment without further study, especially as the staff did not support it.
Voting in favor of the amendment were Mrs. Ford, Mr. Lasita, Robert Kersteen, Frank Peterman and Larry Williams.
In a separate vote, the council unanimously approved the overall Comprehensive Plan, including the street amendments.
With the changes in designation, the only collector streets remaining in the North Shore will be 22nd Avenue and Beach Drive.
Before the Comprehensive Plan becomes law, it must be submitted for state review. After that, the staff will make any changes required by the state, and then the final proposal will be submitted to the city Planning Commission and the City Council for review. Public hearings on the final draft will be held by both the Planning Commission and the council. These are expected some time in May.