We have been inundated of late with questions - mostly from folks who work for Verizon - about St. Petersburg police officers stopping people who come off the Interstate 375 ramp at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street N and Fourth Avenue, turn right on red onto southbound MLK and get a very pricy ticket for their trouble.
There is a very visible sign hanging over the right lane of the ramp warning that no right turn on red is permissible, but those complaining to us claim they didn't see the sign.
That's almost understandable. For one thing, it is a right turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street. And for another, after you drive a route for years, and you get used to it, one new sign might not penetrate the cerebral cortex unless you're looking for it.
Mike Connors, the venerable guru of all street stuff in St. Petersburg, said the sign was recommended in June of last year when a study showed that there was an excessive number of accidents at that intersection, many of them involving cars hitting people, which is never a good thing.
Speed was one contributing factor. The other, Mike said, was a state roadie right-of-way fence at the southwest corner limiting the line of sight of pedestrians. The no-turn sign went up in late May or early June.
Mike said he suspected the heavy police ticketing was caused by complaints from people who saw a lot of motorists missing the sign, or ignoring it.
So be forewarned - or in the case of you who have been unfortunate enough to receive tickets already, afterwarned. The sign stays, and the illegal turns must stop.
We have written so much about how St. Petersburg lane lines are faded and hard to see that we were loath to do it again. But Jim Snyder's letter dragged us over to Beach Drive, where we drove from downtown north looking for what he described as a hard-to-see bicycle lane on the east side of the street.
We had driven three or four blocks and had just about decided that Jim was wrong, and there was no bicycle lane on Beach Drive.
Then, suddenly, Jessie spotted a faded diamond on the pavement, and a block farther north, I saw three dashes of a line that at one time denoted a bicycle lane.
The only places the lane was visible at all was crossing two patches of relatively new asphalt, where the lines had been repainted on the surface.
This is a dangerous situation. Bicyclists such as Jim know there is supposed to be a bicycle lane there, but motorists can't tell. Jessie and I were looking hard for it, and it is amazing that we found it. Most of it has been obliterated by time and wear.
This is a dangerous situation. Bicyclists such as Jim know there is supposed to be a bicycle lane there, but motorists can't tell. ... Most of it has been obliterated by timeand wear.
We truly hope the city will get out and fix the situation.
Soon.
At least three times a week we get letters or e-mails from people nominating railroad crossings as Eyeball Jigglers of the Week. We know they are in bad shape all over southern Pinellas County. They have been unbearable for a long time. But there is nothing that Jessie or I can do to get them fixed.
And we know them all: 62nd Avenue west of 49th Street in Pinellas Park, Central and First avenues N in front of and behind St. Petersburg police headquarters, 31st Street near Gibbs High School.
We have mentioned all of them, and others, many times in this space. The rights of way are owned by the CSX Corp., a private company. CSX officials either don't read this column or don't care. We have no sway with them.
I can guarantee that city officials all over south county have tried to get CSX to fix the crossings, and some will be repaired. It's a matter of money, and the railroad is crying poor, we are told. That might be the case, but it certainly doesn't help when our eyeballs are jiggling out of our heads as we bump and grind across the uneven rails and pavement.
We wish we could do more.
But we don't seem to be able to do anything.
We recently wrote about the travails of crossing First Avenue N on 60th Street. The lines of sight are poor because of vehicles parked along the curb of First Avenue and the intersection is in such bad shape that you can't risk gunning your way across.
An observant reader suggested that for those who have trouble in that spot, go a little farther east and cross both First avenues at 58th Street, where there are traffic lights.
Not a bad idea.
We are curious about something.
When you are driving south across the Bayside Bridge, the signs tell you that the first exit will take you to Largo and to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport. They also tell you that the road you will be on is SR 686.
Is there some reason that the county roadies can't note that 686 is Roosevelt Boulevard?
And more to the point, is there some reason they can't also tell us that using this exit also could take us to St. Petersburg?
Driving north on Second Street N, there is a STOP sign at 28th Avenue that stands well out in the open, but it is underneath an enormous and dense shade tree.
When Jessie and I drove through there the other day, the sun was shining, and I wasn't wearing sunglasses, but I almost missed seeing the sign.
I would never, ever advocate cutting back a beautiful tree, so let this serve only as a warning for those of you who meander around there. Watch for the sign.
- Dr. Delay can be reached by e-mail at docdelay@sptimes.com by fax at 727 893-8675 or by snail mail at 490 First Ave., S, St. Petersburg 33701.
