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Tampa completes Bayshore Boulevard 'safety action plan'

Posted at 4:56 PM, May 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-23 22:26:28-04

TAMPA, Fla. -- Thursday marks the one-year anniversary since a mother and child were killed crossing Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa.

Street racers are accused of speeding, at points reaching 100 mph before striking the mother and child.

Since then, Tampa has taken several steps to improve the busy road.

“The breeze, the cars are going and you are down by the water,” Sarah Elomina, a new mother said.

RELATED: Bayshore street racing suspect was going 102 mph before hitting, killing mother and toddler

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Many pedestrians ABC Action News talked to, spoke to the beauty of the road. But also says it poses risk to those who walk it everyday.

“I used this crosswalk pretty much everyday now,” Jamie Ulrich, a pedestrian, says the new crosswalk has helped her walking across the busy road.

The same crosswalk installed shortly after Jessica Raubenolt and her 21-month-old daughter, Lillia, were killed crossing the street.

Tampa’s safety action plan for Bayshore Boulevard has completed a lot in the last year.

The plan has dropped speed limits from 40 MPH to 35 MPH, it has added speed limit signage, created crosswalks in three major intersections. Plus, the plan has added flashing beacons to those heavily traveled areas.

“There are a lot more cops around,” Ulrich says she’s noticed the difference since the crash.

The city has also widened bike lanes and added buffer lines for bicyclists. But for some, they’re not seeing the difference.

“I’ve had times when I have had to put my hand up like please don’t hit me and my child,” Sarah Elomina said.

For Sarah, the real difference will come when both drivers and pedestrians pay attention when it counts.

“No matter what is going on you have to look all directions,” she said.

The City of Tampa says while there are not any more immediate projects along Bayshore Boulevard they are always looking for ways to improve streets in the city.