TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — There's no shortage of traffic at the intersection of North Rome Avenue and West Columbus Drive in West Tampa.
There's also no shortage of anxiety about the intersection either.
"My biggest fear of this intersection is this intersection. It's just a bad place for cars pulling out, turning left or right. It's really white-knuckle driving. If you have to stop at this intersection to cross Columbus Drive, there's a blind spot from the bridge, and it's just difficult to navigate that left-hand turn coming out of the street," David Green said.
Viewer David Green wrote to ABC Action News, saying he feels the intersection should be improved for safety.
"I watch you all the time, and you're always asking us to notify you if there are intersections you think might be problems. This is definitely one I think might be a problem," he said. "Especially with all the development going down a little bit southwest here, it's gonna be a lot more traffic, a lot more accidents."
Traffic traveling on Rome Avenue has to stop for traffic on Columbus Drive. But the busy road lends little opportunity to cross, making the task feel like a game of Frogger for cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
"The most concerning thing that I see, Jada; number one, the lanes are not adequately marked I don't think, for one thing. Secondly, the stop sign is partially obscured behind us. When you're coming north on Rome Avenue and you're looking across this intersection, it can be misleading in two ways. Number one, you can't see the south side completely. Number two, it looks like the road ends over there at the river. And really it's the intersection is right here," Green explained.
Green has lived near the intersection for nearly 30 years. He says the intersection has always been a growing problem.
"There's one little seat over there now. There used to be a bench that was taken out by a car a couple of years ago. Before that, there was a shelter that was taken out by an accident," he said, pointing to a lone seat near the intersection.
As we were gathering video at the intersection, Joseph Jones left his home in the apartments at the corner. He approached us to talk about his concerns.
"It's scary for me because I'm an older fella, you know. I don't have that much speed, you know, compared to the young. But I hate to see a young person go across the street, especially by themselves," he said.
He's lived in the area for the last three years and says he constantly sees the issues.
"I've seen some real speedy traffic going up and down Columbus, you know. And it stays congested. It's congested. Nobody gives each other a break, you know, to get by and nothing, you know. And I'm frightened because sometimes I have to cross the street to catch the bus to go places because I don't drive. And you got to wait almost 15 to 20 minutes before you get across the street," he said."There's no crosswalk. And as you can tell that it's, it's pretty, pretty treacherous."
In February, we told you about this intersection after a car collided with a school bus. Jones was there when it happened.
"What I seen was the, well, the car was actually totaled. You know, the buses on it, it's the buses are very heavy, and the car was actually totaled right on the corner here," he recalled.
The city is currently embarking on its West Columbus Drive Safety and Mobility Improvements.
Although the Rome intersection falls within that project, there are no specific changes for that particular intersection.
Jones and Green, however, want to see a stronger focus on the intersection where they constantly see issues.
"I know you can't put a single light here because of the bridge, because sometimes the bridge comes open. And so they can't, but, but one thing they can do, maybe put some signs up to say, Slow Down, you know, the Children at Play, or what, you know, whatever you can do," Jones offered. "Because coming through here, Man, forget it. Forget it. You could not get across the street and whatnot, if you were shot out of a cannon actually, because this traffic is speeding like 60 70 miles an hour at times. And you know, I'm hoping that one of the one of the politicians, would hear me out and whatnot, and say, do something about this corner, this stretch of street, you know, because it's it's very dangerous, very dangerous."
"There needs to be some regulation at this intersection. Just the stop signs aren't adequate, I don't think. I think a flashing light or a stop light. I know that's a long waitlist to get those things, but it's going to have to happen sooner or later with all this, all the increased traffic here," Green said.
"You're going to see a big improvement to traffic flow in this area,"
Nearly $865 million later and the new Howard Frankland bridge is entering its final phase of construction.
