ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Officials in St. Petersburg have applied for a grant to revamp a historic part of the city in 2019.
The project would impact 22nd Street South between 15th Avenue South and 1st Avenue South and officials believe it will breath life back into the historic area.
"I think it kind of puts St. Pete on the map as being a bike friendly town,” said Justin Latus, who grew up in the area.
He rides down that road a lot and says distracted driving is pretty common.
"They’re not paying attention,” he said.
St. Pete says speed is also something they’d like to curb. The project would shrink travel lanes slightly to make room for wider and more consistent bike lanes. Right now, the bike lanes suddenly end and pick up randomly.
"It would be good to slow the traffic down a bit and give the bikers and walkers a little more elbow room,” said Latus.
Other plans include wider sidewalks, three brand new parks and brick paving. Officials with Transportation and parking management want the area to become a destination for folks.
"If the driver doesn’t want to slow down they can take 20th St. or another street so they have options. But they know if they’re on 22nd St. they have to slow down which I think is fine,” Latus said.
The city worked with Forward Pinellas Complete streets earlier this year to take Martin Luther King Jr. Street North from four lanes down to three to add in two traffic buffered bike lanes.
The city applied for a $1 million grant with the group for this new project. They say they will use funds already set aside to complete the design phase in 2019. Click here to see the current plans the city has drafted up and submitted for their application.
