TAMPA., Fla. — “What I’ve seen a lot of is traffic flying through here, going way faster than they should,” said Channelside resident Jared Boggs.
Jared Boggs first alerted ABC Action News to pedestrian safety concerns in his neighborhood back in March.
Specifically, the crosswalk on East Twiggs Street, near the Channelside Drive intersection.
“The crosswalk in particular, anytime you hit the button for the crosswalk, and it starts flashing, people just ignore it and fly right through,” said Boggs.
“I’ve almost been hit multiple times,” he added.
He told us back then that the safety issues included speeding cars, poor signage and crosswalk visibility due to construction cones blocking part of the crosswalk on the street, which made it dangerous for people to walk.
Tampa Police said someone was hit by a car there earlier this year.
ABC Action News reached out to the city back in March to see if they had any plans to make immediate changes.
City representatives told us this at the time:
Our project will be looking at changes along Twiggs Street from Ashley Drive to Channelside Drive.... We held a community meeting last week to get input from the public and stakeholders on how we can improve Twiggs Street with an emphasis on safety for all road users. We are using this input to develop the project that will be implemented as part of the City’s recently awarded Safe Streets for All Grant.In the meantime, the Mobility Department is coordinating with Tampa PD on the details of the recent crash, and reviewing the construction work zone to ensure that traffic cones or construction equipment are not blocking visibility.
Boggs recently spoke to ABC Action News about the crosswalk again. He said he noticed improvements to the crosswalk with better visibility to encourage drivers to slow down and stop for traffic.
ABC Action News re-visited the area this week and spoke to other neighbors who said safety is still an issue.
“I haven’t noticed any significant changes,” said Channelside resident Lauren March.
March also lives in the area and, unfortunately knows the traffic dangers of the road all too well.
“Actually, about two months ago, I was walking my dog down this road, and he pulled away from me on his leash and got hit by a car,” said March.
Her dog wasn’t left with serious injuries from the incident, but she knows it could’ve been much worse.
“He is definitely afraid every time I take him on a walk now on this road because cars are going very fast down Twiggs Street,” said March.
March told ABC Action news that she does feel unsafe sometimes when having to cross the street.
“Between the speeding drivers and pedestrians not crossing at the designated locations, that leads to potential accidents and just an overall feeling of being unsafe," said March.
With so much pedestrian traffic in the area, neighbors believe it’s still a dangerous situation.
The City of Tampa is working on a long-term traffic improvement project for the area, but it will take years to complete.
In the meantime, neighbors hope for some other solutions they could see sooner.
“I would like to see additional crosswalks, I think would be helpful, and if that is not feasible, maybe more speed limit signs or additional signage to slow drivers down and make it safer,” said March.
ABC Action News reached out to the City of Tampa for an update and will share their response as soon as we have it.
