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By the time Monica Alvarez died on North 43rd Street in November, Tampa officials had dropped the idea of building a sidewalk linking Hillsborough Avenue and the apartment complex where Alvarez lived.
It wasn't worth the cost, said Jean Duncan, the city's transportation manager.
"We looked at that project and rejected it because it required us to buy property," Duncan said.
Then Alvarez, a 27-year-old pregnant mother, was struck by a car while pushing her daughter in a stroller along the narrow, unlighted East Tampa street. Alvarez died, as did her unborn son; her 1-year-old daughter was injured.
Within weeks, city officials had "moved heaven and earth," said city Councilwoman Lisa Montelione, to build a 200-foot-long sidewalk near the spot where Alvarez died.
Today, along with the new sidewalk, a curb separates the street and sidewalk. A streetlight improves visibility at night. Large speed bumps slow traffic on the recently repaved road.
Cost: $98,000.
"It's better," said Kiyana Callahan, a resident of the Silver Oaks Apartments where Alvarez lived. "But it shouldn't have taken somebody getting hit for them to do it."
In a region that consistently ranks high nationally for pedestrian deaths, Tampa's sidewalk system is riddled with gaps like the one on North 43rd Street.
For the full article, visit the Tampa Tribune.
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