Dr. Delay: St. Petersburg road projects for bikes and wastewater

What is the city of St. Petersburg doing on First Avenue S between Pa sadena Avenue and Park Street? They have installed a concrete bumper in the middle of the road for some reason. Also on Ninth Avenue N, they are installing something from 71st Street all the way to 49th Street in the middle of the road.

Phil Hill

The work on First Avenue S is related to extending the Pinellas Trail into Treasure Island. The concrete traffic separators have been installed to keep the bicycle traffic separate from vehicular traffic.

The work on Ninth Avenue N is part of the city's new wastewater sludge transfer project. The city anticipates that installation of new sewer manholes along Ninth Avenue N should be complete by the end of January.

I am surprised I haven't seen this topic in your weekly column: As you exit U.S. 19 and approach the traffic signal for Seville, we question the almost invisible signal lights. When the intersection first opened we thought it was a temporary malfunction, but to this day the green and red light for cars continuing south is virtually invisible. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents at this intersection.

We checked in with Pinellas County's traffic management team, which has received other inquiries about this signal.

Apparently, the system is designed to prevent confusion, which unfortunately is kind of the opposite of what you describe experiencing.

"This is a 'directional programmable' signal that you can only see if you are directly in front and close to it. Since the left turn signals and straight-through signals have different indications, it eliminates confusion between the two," said Norm Jester, traffic signal management manager for the county.

By the way, this signal is owned by the state Department of Transportation and is maintained by the city of Clearwater.

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