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City Seeks Ways To Slow Traffic

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By KENNETH KNIGHT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

TEMPLE CREST - After listening to residents' complaints about speeding on East Riverhills Drive, Tampa transportation officials are studying ways to slow and reduce traffic on the scenic artery.

City transportation manager Tony Rodriguez said his department is considering adding signs that indicate a vehicle's speed and enhanced medians along a segment of the drive, from 40th Street to 50th Street.

"In respect to Riverhills, it's classified a collector roadway," Rodriguez said. "The city has no plans at this time to downgrade it to a local roadway."

Rodriguez said he plans to make that recommendation when the Tampa City Council is presented with a citywide transportation report Thursday.

That is not what Temple Crest Civic Association President Terry Neal and other residents want to hear.

"It's been an issue we have had for a number of years," Neal said.

The drive that feeds traffic to homes overlooking the Hillsborough River is considered a collector road based on Federal Highway Administration guidelines. The city council adopted the classification in the Tampa Comprehensive Plan in 1989.

Rodriquez said East Riverhills does not warrant a classification change because of its large traffic volume and accessibility to major intersections.

A January 2007 traffic study by the city recorded that 3,486 vehicles used East Riverhills Drive during a 24-hour period. The study showed that 85 percent of the drivers exceeded the 30 mph speed limit. The average speed was 38 mph.

The road does not qualify for traffic-calming devices, such as speed humps, because 85 percent of motorists were not exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph or more, Rodriguez wrote in a September report.

The city council also asked whether there is flexibility with the 85 percent standard.

Rodriguez said it is a national standard that the city should stick with.

Reporter Kenneth Knight can be reached at (813) 865-4842 or kknight@tampatrib.com.

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