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Detangling Gandy at Pinewood

 
Published Dec. 13, 2013

Do you have any update on the problem that residents of the Pinewood Mobile Village are experiencing with Gandy Boulevard traffic?

Don Bayt

The Doc indeed has an update. Let's recap: We reported in July about the dicey situation on eastbound Gandy Boulevard. First, eastbound traffic must make U-turns to enter Pinewood Mobile Village, while in close proximity there's a convergence of traffic exiting Derby Lane dog track to head eastbound on Gandy and traffic crossing Gandy from the Tortuga Pointe apartment complex. Residents of Pinewood Mobile Village suggested that instituting right-turn only restrictions for vehicles exiting both the dog track and the apartment complex (already in effect for traffic exiting Pinewood Mobile Village) might be a solution.

We asked the state Department of Transpiration to look into this. The DOT conducted a crash study over the summer. Plans are now in motion to modify the current grassy median opening to a directional median opening. The project will take some time; the first step is design followed by various approvals, which means construction will likely start in spring.

Meanwhile, here's what has been proposed for the overall Gandy Boulevard project: four-lane Gandy Boulevard will be reconstructed to six lanes from west of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street to east of Fourth Street. Overpasses will be built along the mainline of Gandy Boulevard at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N and Roosevelt Boulevard/Fourth Street and a new overpass will be constructed that extends 94th Avenue over Gandy Boulevard with frontage roads parallel to Gandy.

Kris Carson of the DOT says both pedestrian and bicycle accommodations will be incorporated throughout the corridor improvement and that the construction will be done within the existing highway right-of-way which means that no businesses or residences will need to be relocated.

Barricade watch:

• Work is under way to install a traffic signal on 54th Avenue S/Pinellas Bayway at the entrance to Eckerd College. Expect nightly lane closures from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday during the construction period.

• Sidewalk repair and upgrade work along 62nd Avenue N from 30th to 34th streets that has required lane closures should wrap up at the end of this week.

Email Dr. Delay at docdelay@gmail.com to share your traffic concerns, comments and questions. Follow @AskDrDelay on Twitter.