With transit and infrastructure at the forefront of President Biden's agenda, never before has getting people safely to where they need to go been a bigger priority.
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Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida, so when it comes to expansion of our roads we've mastered – it’s going up.
Recently, a Spectrum Bay News 9 viewer shared ideas about a new way to use our current infrastructure by doing just that.
David Henning lives in the Maximo area of St. Petersburg, but like many people is a transplant from someplace else.
He is from Illinois. His wife, Nancy Sheveneck, is from Wisconsin.
He was raised on great public transportation systems, like the elevated train in Chicago. Something like that has never been here - or has it?
"And then I just did a little research and there was a trolley in the early 1900s,” Henning said. “I guess it was fairly well used."
David is a trail user in Pinellas County and thinks this path could be part of our transportation future.
Most of what is now the Pinellas Trail used to be railroad tracks. It was the old orange belt railway.
And without going into a whole history of rail in Florida, let's just say if family names like Plant or Flagler ring a bell, that's the lasting impact rail had on our state.
The old orange belt railway wasn't a commuter line. It serviced the businesses along its winding route.
And as the 20th century rolled forward, the owners of those private rail lines gave them up. After all, cars, trucks and airplanes were much faster ways to get goods out to business.
So the rail lines were changed to what we know today.
Tampa Bay is no stranger to building up to lift us out of traffic. The Selmon Express lanes, the new connector over Gandy Boulevard and the new Gateway Expressway prove that.
But could it work here? An elevated commuter vehicle above and trail users below?
David says yes.
"I knew people that lived by the “El” in the Chicago suburbs. They said after a while they didn't even notice it,” he said.
"It seemed to me that the biggest problem is land acquisition. The land is here. And I figure with any new idea you have to foresee the obstacles."
Real Time Traffic Expert Chuck Henson spoke with our friend Kris Carson with FDOT to see if this is an idea they'd heard and what the chances are for it moving forward.
And the short answer is no. That said, a no now may not be the end of the story.
Many great ideas have been shot down on first review. Then once transportation planners have a chance to really look into the issue, that far-fetched idea can become reality.
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December 06, 2021 at 10:11PM
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Traffic Inbox: Using current infrastructure to improve transportation flow - Bay News 9
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