As Pinellas County moves forward into the New Year, community members can expect to see changes on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. in St. Petersburg, in the effort to make it more of a “Complete Street”. In early 2018, M.L.K will be resurfaced and re-striped between 5^th Ave North and 34^th Ave North. At the end of 2017, the city gathered public input to identify what might be done between the curbs to make the corridor more complete.

“Resurfacing of Dr. M.L. King Jr. St. N. provides an opportunity through the city’s Complete Streets Program to implement changes to roadway striping enabling safer streets and allowing for smooth, continuous traffic and pedestrian flow while supporting business needs along the corridor. Proposed recommendations include enhanced crosswalks, parallel neighborhood greenways, and bike lanes,” the city’s website reads.

Martha Bowden, Public Policy Chair, former Co-Chair of the St. Petersburg Transportation Committee, and member of the city’s Complete Streets Committee, says a lot of time and energy has been put into the effort to make the framework of recommendations support multi-modal transportation. “The exciting thing about M.L.K. project is that this is the first chance to take several years of conversations, ideas, modeling, research and analysis, go out, and do something with it. Currently, repainting the lines is the way we are able to do that as the street is resurfaced,” says Bowden.

The city showed residents the traffic challenges that lie ahead gathered their input. “We want to enhance the area for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists alike,” Bowden says. “For instance, are bike lanes the way to go or should we consider separated greenways for pedestrians and bicyclists? It is this kind of collaboration and communication with the public, these kinds of questions, that make community and transportation come alive.”

Click here to visit the City of St. Petersburg website to learn more.