MLK/9th St. reduce to 3 lanes

Details

09 Jul

The City is quietly moving forward with a plan to reduce MLK/9th Street to three lanes between 34th Ave. and 5th Ave. N. There has been very little notice, yet they may begin construction as quickly as later this month. The motivation is to create two large independent bicycle lanes (11 feet wide) in each direction, and eliminate one automobile lane. Some portions will be one lane south bound and some one lane north bound. Not surprisingly, 64 businesses presented petitions to the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce June 26th, asking for the Chamber to help them lobby for keeping all four lanes open. Several of the businesses fear they may be forced to close. For those of you who use 9th Street between 5th Ave. and 34th Ave/, this likely will be a major change if implemented. It is easy to see that a significant number of 9th Street users will begin to use 4th Street instead, and of course that will add to the traffic on that major artery. As we have added many new residents since 2008, a number of residents have voiced their opinions against this change and fear that traffic will become even more congested.

Anyone who is concerned about this should contact City Councilman, Ed Montanari at (727) 893-7111 or email him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You should also contact Mayor Rick Kriseman at (727) 893-7201 or email him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.