CLEARWATER, Fla. – The city’s Traffic Engineering Department has made some pedestrian crossing improvements at the new Pinellas Trail Crossing at Fort Harrison Avenue and Belleview Boulevard in Clearwater. The improvements, which were completed June 23, were part of a traffic study and were spurred by recommendations city staff made to address complaints from the biking community.
Before, the intersection had a standard crosswalk for south, west, east, and north approaches. Now, yellow “brick road” thermoplastic overlay marks the crossing area, which goes diagonally across the intersection.
According to the city’s Traffic Operations Manager, Paul Bertels, “The improvements will help reduce the pedestrian crossing time by giving a more direct crossing to trail users, making it safer for them to cross at this particular intersection.” Trail users now have a shorter path to go directly across diagonally during the pedestrian phase of traffic signal crossing. During this phase, all vehicle traffic has red stoplights, and the pedestrian signal was able to be decreased from 31 to 23 seconds long.
“This is a very unique crossing,” says Felicia Leonard, Administrative Support Manager of Parks & Recreation. “The Pinellas Trail is a community asset that provides recreation, transportation, economic, and health benefits to our community.”
To learn more about the city’s parks and trails, visit myclearwater.com and click select “Parks & Recreation” from the drop-down box of city departments.
Source: City of Clearwater News
