Some Dixieland of the older business have come out openly hating South Florida Avenue’s redesign and are tired to cope with a road diet they say hasn’t delivered the results FDOT and City have promised.
“It’s failed in every aspect,” Zack Kulp, manager of Bent’s Schwinn Cycling and Fitness, said. Kulp also said, “It’s not safe.”
Subs ‘n Such owner Dean Shimer on South Florida Avenue for 46 years, said Shimer said he hasn’t heard a single word of praise about the road being narrowed to three lanes.
Clippership Barber Shop, stylists Linda Baumgardner, said she immediately lost customers when Citrus Connection pulled its public buses off South Florida Avenue in response to the road diet “We’ve lost most all our people who ride the bus,” she said.
Crashes are up:
There’s been a 46% increase in accidents along the altered portion of South Florida Avenue from 67 in 2019 to 101 in 2021, according to LPD’s crash data.
Lakeland’s consultant, Ayres Associates, has provided nine alternative configurations for Florida Avenue through Dixieland. City officials have expressed willingness to consider one of these alternatives, but have yet to decide what recommendation they will make to the state.
Lakeland commissioners are scheduled to meet with Florida Department of Transportation staff at 1:30 p.m. Friday at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave., to discuss its formal finding of the road diet study. The meeting is open to the public.
I sure wouldn’t want the rocket scientist that came up with that idea to work for me. Aside from being stupid it’s ugly. We never go that way anymore. A lot of money wasted again.
Please put the road back to four lanes. I see very few people using the sidewalk. I would put in a bike lane, install a curb 18” to 20” high. Raising a curb to 18” would keep cars, pickups and away from pedestrians and bikers with ease. Doing this would put flow back to its best.
I agree that the road needd to go back to four lanes. It takes longer to get down South Florida through Dixieland now then what it used to. For example, just to turn into the Dixieland post office I used to wait maybe a minute at most in the turning lane, but now there’s times that I have sat in the turning lane for at least 3 to 5 minutes waiting to turn. It’s all great when you have another car stop in the middle of the road coming the opposite direction just to let you turn but at the same time this can cause accidents. Put it back to 4 lanes!
Why on Earth didn’t they just set up a row of highway concrete barriers, easily emplaced with a forklift, instead of pouring all that concrete? Not only would it have been cheaper and faster to put in and remove, it would have taken up less space and allowed for a protected bicycle lane.
This experiment was poor judgment all the way around and should never have been approved.
Someone told me that it was meant to encourage pedestrian traffic, but I can’t see the logic. If you want to encourage pedestrian traffic, install awnings over the sidewalks to shelter pedestrians from the rain and our intense summer sun.