SEMINOLE HEIGHTS, Fla. — If you drive through the neighborhood streets of Seminole Heights, you'll notice a trend—sidewalks that suddenly end, and a path to nowhere that leads you out into the street.
“We’re doing a lot with the water mains and drainage, and things of that nature. Sidewalks are not just connecting streets, it’s really connecting the community," said Chappy Floyd. “It seems there’s a lack of consistency.”
But, walking is why Floyd, who lives along Sligh Avenue, moved to Seminole Heights.
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“The ability to have the option to walk as opposed to always drive. Plus, parking here is horrible, so if you can walk to something, it’s just better for everyone," he said.
We got in touch with Floyd after speaking with his neighbor Jesse Ping a few weeks back about new, much wider sidewalks FDOT installed along Highland Avenue in South Seminole Heights. Ping told us Floyd sees it all living along Sligh.
“It’s become a haven for people that want to drag race, and that’s where it’s really dangerous for pedestrians and kids," he said.
He told us drivers tend to use it as an easy access to 275. He also sees a lot of crashes. And while Floyd feels safe walking on the sidewalk, it’s the lack of sidewalks he takes issue with, especially in front of new homes along the neighborhood side streets in the area.
“It is weird when you have new construction that in some cases do have sidewalks that have been added, so that might just make it easier when we get to that point, but then strangely new houses that don’t have any sidewalks or they have personal walkways, but not things that are for community access," he said.
The City of Tampa told us builders are supposed to install sidewalks in front of new homes, but if they can’t, based on certain limitations, they must pay a Sidewalk in Lieu fee.
"We have a lot of sidewalk gaps in the City of Tampa. In fact, we have over 1,300 miles of sidewalk gaps. We're working against a long history where sidewalks were not as high of a priority as they are right now," said Brandon Campbell, the Interim Mobility Director for the City of Tampa. "Our first pass at prioritizing where those sidewalk gaps came with our Tampa Moves Mobility Plan that was released about two years ago. We're still attempting to filter through that."
The city is working on the Green ARTery project, which is a 22-mile interconnected pedestrian and bicycle network that will link neighborhoods, parks, schools, and other attractions around Tampa together with 4,000 feet of new, wider sidewalks, fresh paving, lower speed limits, solar-powered flashing crosswalk beacons and more.
“I think there’s a big advantage to having green ways and places for people to go where they’re off of the traffic path. That’s great for recreation," Floyd said. "My whole thing was getting from place to place, so that’s why I think there needs to be additional attention to the infrastructure.”
"We've reduced the number of exceptions when people come in and are building a new house, and would prefer to not build a sidewalk. The idea is it's an all-hands-on approach, it's all the tools in the toolbox. We're continuing to fill in those gaps," said Campbell.
The city said the two segments of the Green ARTery Project currently under construction will cost about $2 million, which is funded by both the City of Tampa and the Florida Department of Transportation. It's expected to be completed by the end of the summer. The entire Green ARTery project should be completed within the next five years.
"We don't come home until they do."
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