PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — From her front porch, St. Petersburg resident Sandy Beardsley has a front-row seat to 5th Avenue North.

It’s a great spot to chill.

It’s also a great site for mayhem, which Beardsley hears often.

“There is a lot. It’s interesting. You can sit on the porch and never be surprised,” said Beardsley, who has lived next door to a Pinellas Trail bike crossing for a while. “You always hear sirens. You hear ‘eeeee.’ You hear brakes. You hear swearing.”

What You Need To Know

The Pinellas Trail is a multi-use trail from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs that crosses some busy roads

A neighbor is concerned with close calls and crashes at the Pinellas Trail crossing on 5th Avenue North

Forward Pinellas says there were six crashes on 5th between 2021-2025

Forward Pinellas is studying a similar intersection at 22nd Avenue North for safety improvements

The Pinellas Trail is a multi-use trail from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs. There are several places where it crosses busy roads, like 5th Avenue North.

Beardsley has lived next to that crossing for more than 30 years.

“It’s interesting. You can sit on the porch and never be surprised,” Beardsley said.” You always hear sirens. You hear brakes. You hear swearing.”

She has seen several crashes there over the years, including a car versus a bicyclist in February.

She has two concerns: Drivers speeding across — and trail users not stopping and using the warning lights.

“They rarely slow down. I’ve seen many close calls with cyclists and cars. Not always the car’s fault. Often it’s the cyclist’s fault,” Beardsley said.

Spectrum Bay News 9 Real Time Traffic Expert Tim Wronka asked Forward Pinellas, the county transportation planning agency, about this. Officials told him that studies show only 30 percent of trail users will use the crossing button on the Pinellas Trail.

At this crossing on 5th Avenue North, there were six crashes between 2021 and 2025. And at a similar crossing on 22nd Avenue North, there were 16 crashes in that time, including one deadly.

More than 80 percent of those crashes involved cyclists.

Beardsley is not sure of the solution at 5th Avenue North, but she would like drivers and cyclists to be more aware at these crossings.

“I don’t think stop signs would work for the drivers but they need to slow down,” Beardsley said.

Forward Pinellas is now studying the trail crossing at 22 due to safety concerns. And since that’s similar to the crossing on 5th, the agency may be able to recommend safety improvements to both.

Is there a traffic issue you’re dealing with? If so let Tim know here!