St. Petersburg is giving two crosswalks near St. Petersburg High School a brighter, more visible makeover after a teenage student was critically injured by a car this spring. The upgrades add more flashing lights, taller signs, brighter paint and sidewalk repairs along a residential stretch where students cross to reach school.
The project follows a May 22 crash at Ninth Avenue North and 25th Street North. According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, a 15-year-old boy activated the crosswalk lights and began crossing when he was struck by a Honda Accord; he was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
The driver was cited for failing to exercise care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. City crews are now working at the crossings on Ninth Avenue North at both 25th Street North and 26th Street North, directly behind the high school.
Brighter Signals And Wider Sidewalk Ramps
Crews have refreshed the crosswalk markings, installed taller fluorescent signs and added a second set of flashing lights aimed at approaching motorists, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported. The city also plans fluorescent stripes on the sign poles, visors over the lights and wider sidewalk ramps, while broken sidewalk sections along Ninth Avenue North are being repaired.
“We do see that speeds are relatively high on Ninth Avenue North,” Cheryl Stacks, St. Petersburg’s transportation manager, told the station. She said the city is using side-mounted technology because Ninth Avenue North functions more like a neighborhood street, unlike busier Fifth Avenue North, where the Florida Department of Transportation previously installed different crosswalk technology.
The work fits into St. Petersburg’s broader Complete Streets effort. A City of St. Petersburg planning document says the city’s Complete Streets policy is intended to make roadways safer and more accommodating for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and drivers; the implementation plan was adopted in 2019.
The city’s construction push also arrives after the police department reported a pedestrian and bicyclist safety campaign that had produced 26 operations, 174 pedestrian education contacts and 230 citations by February. In its public safety update, the department urged drivers to obey speed limits and watch for pedestrians, while reminding people on foot to use marked crossings and pedestrian signals.
