SEMINOLE HEIGHTS, Fla. — It's a lifeline for drivers heading downtown, and it slices through the middle of one of Tampa’s most bustling neighborhoods: Highland Avenue in Seminole Heights.
“There’s lots of traffic on these roads," said Charles Schaub, who lives nearby.
Indeed, which makes the sidewalks and bike lanes even more important for the people who live around here, like Schaub. We caught up with him while he was doing his daily run.
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The sidewalks should be easy to navigate!
“I feel like there was roots and dangers, and so it just wasn’t a very child-friendly place to walk or even with my dog, just because there’s a lot of traffic," said Jesse Ping, who also lives near Highland Avenue.
We spoke with him as he walked his baby and dog down a slower side street in Seminole Heights.
“I would not walk on that road just because the sidewalk is too narrow. It’s bumpy. It seems like it’s a very old sidewalk," he said.
He avoids it altogether. Ping definitely has his hands full, and that is not a rare sight in this neighborhood.
“There’s also this element that we’re right next to an elementary school, so I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a parent in the area, having children who are taken to the elementary school," he said.
That's a good point. The good news is that the Florida Department of Transportation saw how bad the sidewalks were and decided to act. Crews have laid down new eight-foot-wide sidewalks from Violet Street south to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
“I think the wider sidewalks are nice. It’s gonna be a nicer place to walk," said Schaub. "They had a bike lane along here and obviously there's a bike lane on the other side, cause you don’t need two bike lanes, so it made sense.”
“I was super excited to see them because I’m like, oh, now I have somewhere I can walk my dog and my baby safely," said Ping. "I don’t have to worry about the traffic, they’re very large. They’re like three times the size, I would say.”
They’re also going to repave Highland Avenue from Violet down to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, improve drainage, and update signs, pavement markings, and signals. Next fall, FDOT is getting bids from contractors to extend these same improvements from Violet Street north on Highland Avenue up to Hillsborough Avenue.
“I would like to see this continue all the way down to the downtown area," Ping said. "I like that they’re including more bike routes because there’s a lot of people that enjoy biking, and it’s just a nice alternative to driving.”
FDOT is listening. Click here for FDOT's current projects in the works. Tampa Street will get the same love and attention as Highland very soon, and so will Florida Avenue. Those improvements will eventually span all the way to downtown.
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