Traffic Issues
Seminole Heights is a large area compared to other neighborhoods in the city. We are sliced up by an interstate and 5 major traffic arteries not counting the feeder roads. Each of the neighborhoods have tried to address individual traffic issues impacting the residential areas and it has been piecemeal and with varying levels of success. Knowing that the city actually is taking notice of issues raised here, it might help having a full list of concerns. With 10,000 homes and only about 300 active (as opposed to members) participants among three neighborhood groups, I am sure there are corners of the Seminole Heights that don't get heard on the issues closest to their homes.
So what streets, intersections have issues with speeding, line of sight issues, cut through traffic volume, traffic enforcement, etc.?
For me closest to home issues are the 4 way stop at Hanna & 15th where people don't stop.
The speed on Hanna between Nebraska and 15 th st. (Thankfully TPD has been writing a bunch of tickets on this issue)
The speed on vehicles on 12th st. between Hanna and Sligh
31 comments:
Excellent question! I will be very intersted to read the answers. One of SESH road issues is 12th. It leads to the park and is THE N/S road inside the neighborhood. No one is safe walking on it. No room for sidewalks and it is a raceway for many cars. Speed tables would be nice!
Syncronizing the lights on E. Hillsborough between Florida and Interstate 4. The stops at 30th, 40th and 56th and beyond are ridiculous. The lights allow WAY TOO MUCH time for north/south traffic when the real issue is east/west traffic. 30 more seconds on each east/west light would make a world of difference.
Clearing up some of the traffic flow on this God awful road (E. Hillsborough) might alleviate some of the issues on smaller roads particularly Hanna. The stupid median idea on Hillsborough is only going to make congestion worse and Hanna is going to get even more cars trying to avoid it.
Also why is there not a left turn light from Central onto Hillsborough at the new Starbucks. That is just pure idiocy.
There is a lot of speeding and reckless driving on Broad St. as people are heading to and from Alpine liquors!!!
Chelsea Street between Nebraska and 12th Streets. Alot of pedestrians, no sidewalks or curbing, traffic light at Nebraska, grocery store, etc. 12th and Chelsea are used as a cut-through for traffic looking to avoid the long light eastbound at MLK and Nebraska. School busses, semi trucks, you name it. We were successful in getting a 4-way stop put in at 12th and Chelsea, but that has not stopped the amount of traffic nor the speeding. PLEASE HELP!!!
East Idlewild from 15th Street to Nebraska Ave. is a racetrack! The problem has worsened since the Albertson's at 22nd Street closed.
Wilder, between Central and Florida along the western side of Hillsborough High School is very bad. This road is a raceway for cars 24 hours a day. The road is wider to allow trucks to make deliveries to HHS. This open road feel encourages this dragstrip behavior.
During rush hour, there is a lot of cut through traffic in both directions; most of them fly down Wilder:
Cars from Nebraska going to either northbound Florida or westbound Hillsborough; two light can be avoided by cutting through on Wilder.
Cars traveling southbound on Florida looking to go to Nebraska/Osborne also avoid 2 lights.
With all the school kids who are in the area and sidewalks on only one side of the street; it is only a matter of time before a pedestrian is hit by a speeding car.
I have emailed TPD and mentioned this to TPD officers, in the area, and not once have they set up a speed trap.
1. Left turn lights for Osborne & Florida during rush hour.
2. Southbound on Florida just below Hillsborough, getting stuck behind people turning left into the residential area. Made worse by all the roadwork happening during the day when it could be done at night and all the traffic horses taken in during the day. Add a left turn lane, or make it "no left turn" during morning & afternoon rush.
Those are my biggest peeves.
left turn signal northbound at N. Boulevard and MLK.
Why there is a 10 car length left turn lane and no signal is baffling. During rush hour there is a 3-4 light wait to turn left.
12 street from MLK to anywhere north is bad. How can the "city of Parks" have a park on a street that has a speed limit of about 80 with no sidewalks. Once the park is completed in about 2050, how will the kids get there safely. Also, Chelsea is bad. They have retaining walls built all the way at the curb so you are forced to walk in the street.
Personally, I would like to see stepped-up enforcement along Hillsborough for people who pull into the intersections at Highland, and Central when they can't clear them before the light turns red. I see it every single day.
Hanna from Nebraska to Florida is a drag strip. They can use my driveway to set up a speed trap any time.
Let's add the following to ifly
1. Hillsborough and Central - drivers piling into that intersection too. This one could be handled by timing the lights better so that the one on Central & Hillsborough turns red *before* the one on Florida & Hillsborough.
2. And while we're on the topic of Florida & Hillsborough, how about lengthening the left turn light on westbound Hillsborough so the drivers trying to turn south on Florida don't back up into the Hills/Central intersection? Or make it sensor-driven, so that the arrow stays green until there aren't any cars in the left turn lane.
Actually I did mention the one at Central. Last year after moving here and witnessing those problems we posted a suggestion to the City and were told that it has been studied several times and that it isn't feasible for the lights to be timed that way from an traffic engineering standpoint. Another inept city department pat answer.
The Hanna racetrack doesn't end at Florida. Between idiots test driving their new cars from ABC and smoking up the tires, McNatt's dry cleaning vans driving like they're on their way to a fire, and just plain idiots who don't realize that the lack of a center stripe constitutes 25mph, I'm amazed that no one has been killed yet.
I won't let my dogs sit on the front porch w/me because I'm afraid of them running out into traffic if they see something shiny.
Hillsborough and Central is a nightmare. It is almost impossible to cross Hillsborough. One light lasts forever, the other lasts about five seconds. Red light runners are continuous, both being trucks and cars. The intersection is continuously blocked. Drivers are yelling at each other. This is in the middle of a residential area, a historic one at that. Surely, something can be done.
The problem at Hillsborough and Central could be avoided if they would put a turn signal. They have turn lane but no signal. They only way you can usually turn is to pull out in the intersection and wait for a red light.
The real solution to the Hillsborough/Central intersection problem is to 8-lane Hillsborough through Seminole Heights and create a Central Ave tunnel at Hillsborough. The synchronization of the lights through the Hillsborough Ave corridor from Nebraska to the river is absurd. Have you seen how the traffic backs up there at almost any time of the day?? Do these traffic engineers ever drive through there??
Cut through traffic on the East/West streets between Florida and Central is bad and getting worse. I enter my lot from Giddens and when I stop to open the gate, the cut throughs (usually speeding)seem to think that I have no right to get in their way. I'm sure that one day there will be an altercation.
Hello,
I reside off Hanna West.
The traffic is atrocious!
These streets need some sort of bumps >
Those idiots from that car lot use our street here to run vehicles up and down it and around.
Can we not ask for bumps to be put in?
Good gravy ! Bless the children on bikes here and the dogs who may be walking or the people !
Idiots!
When are they going to tear that place down anyhow?
All those car lots .Grrrrr
The Central Ave/Hillsborough Ave. intersection is at its worst right now, it seems. I live on Branch and go through it every day, sometimes multiple times a day. The traffic light syncronization has not changed since Starbucks opened its doors. You have drivers blocking the intersection when their side is red. This is illegal. I wonder if people are aware of this. I see it every single day. What we need is law enforcement to give tickets for this. AND, we need the engineers to look at the current situation at that intersection, in particular. There has to be a solution.
I think that they should re-route 275 AROUND Seminole Heights instead of through it. Who do I talk to about this?
cut through traffic from Hillsbrough north into the neighborhood anytime between 3 - 7 trying to cut the light and flying down the middle of the street which forces neighbors to have to pull to the side to let them fly through. Never mind anyone that may be walking or on a bike or walking kids or dogs - they are on their own!!! All to save 5 minues at the light.
All of the roads leading onto Hillsborough from the neighborhood should be made right turn exit only toward I-275. That would force traffic to the lights at 15th and Nebraska. I would be all for limiting access to the neighborhood from Hilsbrough and I am sure tht I am not alone.
IFly, you're right. You did mention Hillsborough & Central. I missed it.
Let's add some more:
1. Doofuses who block the intersection of Highland & Hillsborough (heading north on Highland) and preventing two lanes of traffic from turning left to west on Hillsborough.
2. Tow trucks bringing cars to that @#! car lot on Idlewild & Florida. Had two of them there this morning blocking Idlewild.
3. Cars parked on the street when the houses they (presumably) belong to have perfectly good driveways. If that's not illegal, it ought to be. Bad on Idlewild, Dexter Ave, *really* bad on River Drive.
4. Blind intersections at Hanna & Highland and other spots in the northern part of the neighborhood - buildings and bushes and hedges that block your view until you nose far enough into the intersection that you're a hazard.
5. Speed humps (or potholes - I'm not particular) on Lynn, Highland, Ola, and other roads that feed into Idlewild. My wife has been hit *twice* on Idlewild by speed demons coming north and running stop signs.
6. Widen Florida Ave and add a center turn lane like they have on Hillsborough. People get stuck behind someone who has to turn left across oncoming traffic and pull out from the back of the line, which is a hazard in and of itself.
Traffic enforcement at Florida and Hillsborough. Every change of the light has 3 or more cars going through the red lights. What is the going rate on running a red light these days? 150 bucks? That could net the city 5k or 10k a day.
I was walking home last night at around 8:15 from a neighbor's house and literlly had to jump out of the street due to an IDIOT actually passing the car in front of him coming directly at me going around 50 mph. I have been predicting a death on Chelsea Street for years now. I never thought that it actually might me mine. Tampa has grown and grown over the years. This area was originally platted as an outer suburb and has become a centralized, urban neighborhood for the expanse that is Tampa. We have several major highways and freeways cutting through our neighborhood. Traffic congestion and gridlock has become so bad that drivers find it easier to cut through quiet neighborhood streets to get where they are going. Our approach to traffic control in the area needs to be completely revamped. We need some attention to this problem NOW.
rick f. - Let's add a longer left turn light on southbound Florida heading east on Hillsborough, coupled with longer green lights at Central and at I-275. If you have longer than five seconds to turn left, you (a) won't need to turn on a red light and (b) won't need to block traffic on southbound Florida below Hillsborough. I bet this would eliminate at least some neighborhood cut-through driving.
Here's a thought - maybe the mayor could require her traffic engineers to drive to work along Hillsborough and Florida so they could experience firsthand what we're talking about.
That is a most excellent idea!
What about the mayor and group walk here? At all times? Would that be cool? Their assigment is.
To walk here like say , work hours and school time and evening. So they can get the flavour of the place. This is a busy area surrounding us.
This area is a scary place at times too.
However Im grateful we're not off
Dale Mabry any more .
Thank You.
Broad Street from Florida to Park Circle s a mess. Delivery trucks and even school busses think it's a race track in the morning. People going to and from Alpine in the evening think the speed limit is closer to 50 MPH. I pick up wheel covers regularly. One day a car bottomed out at 10th and Broad and left his whole muffler. I don't think he even noticed. Yeah, Broad from Florida to Park Circl...particularly E. of 10th.
LOL . DIDNT SEE HIS MUFFLER
fell off.
Now that is sad.
good lord .I forgot about the ol alpine....
Jaywalkers! All of these morons who think they can walk right out in front of you in the middle of the street. Why do I never see them being ticketed?!
Lots of speeders cutting through North Street Between 15th and 12th, and lots of kids always playing on this street. No stop signs to slow the speeders btw 15th and 12th on North Street. One child came to me the other day complaining that someone threw a firecracker at him and it exploded at his feet. He is four years old. It is a shame.
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