TAMPA, Fla. — “It’s just unsafe and it is our neighborhood,” said Alicia Howell.
Howell has lived in her South Seminole Heights neighborhood for more than 20 years on West Wilder Avenue, right off of Florida Avenue.
“This community is booming. South Seminole Heights is growing,” said Howell.
She believes that’s part of the reason traffic issues have reached an all-time high.
“It’s never been this bad,” said Howell.
Neighbors told ABC Action News they have several concerns.
“There’s no sidewalks. You got high school kids walking up from school and the people are speeding,” said Howell.
She said the speeding is made worse because there are no speed limit signs on her street.
“When they drive, they just drive recklessly,” said Howell.
It’s so bad, neighbors said they won’t let their kids play outside.
“There are smaller children in the neighborhood now and their parents choose to keep them inside because of the safety,” said Howell.
It’s not only the people they’re worried about.
“Of course, you got neighborhood cats and you know they are often hit,” said Howell.
Neighbors fear these problems will only get worse.
“Look at our community and see there’s a problem here,” said Howell.
She said they’ve been dealing with these issues long enough and now want solutions.
“The only thing we’re just asking for is safety,” added Howell.
Residents want to see speed limit signs put up on their streets and speed bumps so that people slow down.
“Very frustrated because it seems like we can’t get anyone to see about our concerns about our community," said Howell.
That’s why ABC Action News reached out to the City of Tampa. This is the statement they shared when we brought the problems to their attention:
"The City of Tampa Mobility Department will send a team out to replace any missing 25 mile per hour speed limit signs in that area and perform a speed study on Wilder, between Florida Avenue and Highland.Please note that it could take several weeks to launch, but when our mobility team completes it, we will follow up with the results of the speed study with neighborhood leaders."
Neighbors hope those changes come soon. They fear it’s only a matter of time until “…someone gets hit, yes. Or a matter of time before a house gets ran into because of the excessive speeding and loss of control,” said Howell.
