New Tampa: Where the sidewalk ends
Last month, our old friend Commuter Carly detailed the problems a pedestrian experienced in New Tampa. Along stretches of Bruce B. Downs Blvd., one of the wealthiest and most populated areas of the region, sidewalks randomly end and crosswalks connect rundown curbs with a worn patch of grass. Tongue planted firmly in cheek, Carly titled her piece, “A pedestrian adventure, aka my life as a moving target.”
We know Tampa Bay is incredibly unsafe for pedestrians, but a new report released this week further proves Carly’s statement. According to Transportation For America’s “Dangerous By Design 2011," Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is the second most dangerous place for pedestrians in the United States. Only Orlando prevented Tampa Bay from being the most dangerous. From 2000 to 2009, 905 pedestrians were killed on area roads, for a rate of 3.5 deaths per 100,000.
Transportation For America scored each region, which resulted in Orlando being more dangerous, since only 1.2 percent of Orlando residents walk to work (compared to 1.6 percent in Tampa Bay). The top-four most dangerous metropolitan regions for pedestrians were all in Florida. As Transportation For America wrote, “The few people who do walk to work in Orlando face a relatively high risk of being killed in a traffic crash.” The same could be said about Tampa Bay.
There is a reason why pedestrian and bicycle path improvements were included in the failed transportation referendum in 2010. Too many of our roads “are designed solely to move traffic and pedestrians are viewed as an obstacle,” according to Transportation For America. Bruce B. Downs is an example of that. More than 52 percent of pedestrians nationally are killed on roads like Bruce B. Downs that sacrifice pedestrian safety for more lanes and less crossings. The title of the New York Times piece of the report played on this feature of Florida’s roads:“On Wide Florida Roads, Running For Dear Life.”
It's not easy for pedestrians to cross Bruce B. Downs
A Tampa Tribune story this week echoed another finding of the report: areas that are not considered walkable have a higher rate of obesity. The study noted University of Chicago research that linked health and neighborhood design. The Tribune reported on the nearly 30 percent higher rate of obesity in a rural Plant City school, when compared to a school in walkable Westchase.
Designing communities and roads to include pedestrians will not only protect “moving targets” and improve public health. It will also lead to improved real estate values. According to CEOs for Cities, homes with an above average walkability were worth $4,000 to $34,000 more than a home in an average walkable community. If saving lives isn’t a good enough reason to support pedestrian improvements, maybe increased home values will.
Transportation For America suggests maintaining funding for pedestrian safety improvements, Complete Streets policies and creating walkable communities. In some places in our region, this has occurred, but not enough.
The communities of Tampa Bay have to continue to take a hard look at if protecting the lives of those biking to school or walking to work is a valuable investment. Otherwise, more of those “moving targets” are going to get hit.
You can download the “Dangerous By Design 2011” report here.