PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 From her front porch, St. Petersburg resident Sandy Beardsley has a front-row seat to 5th Avenue North.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a great spot to chill.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a great site for mayhem, which Beardsley hears often.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot. It\u2019s interesting. You can sit on the porch and never be surprised,\u201d said Beardsley, who has lived next door to a Pinellas Trail bike crossing for a while. \u201cYou always hear sirens. You hear \u2018eeeee.\u2019 You hear brakes. You hear swearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The Pinellas Trail is a multi-use trail from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs that crosses some busy roads
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A neighbor is concerned with close calls and crashes at the Pinellas Trail crossing on 5th Avenue North
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Forward Pinellas says there were six crashes on 5th between 2021-2025
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Forward Pinellas is studying a similar intersection at 22nd Avenue North for safety improvements<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Beardsley has lived next to that crossing for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting. You can sit on the porch and never be surprised,\u201d Beardsley said.\u201d You always hear sirens. You hear brakes. You hear swearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has seen several crashes there over the years, including a car versus a bicyclist in February.<\/p>\n
She has two concerns: Drivers speeding across \u2014 and trail users not stopping and using the warning lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey rarely slow down. I\u2019ve seen many close calls with cyclists and cars. Not always the car\u2019s fault. Often it\u2019s the cyclist\u2019s fault,\u201d Beardsley said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
At this crossing on 5th\u00a0Avenue 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.<\/p>\n
More than 80 percent of those crashes involved cyclists.<\/p>\n
Beardsley is not sure of the solution at 5th\u00a0Avenue North, but she would like drivers and cyclists to be more aware at these crossings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think stop signs would work for the drivers but they need to slow down,\u201d Beardsley said.<\/p>\n
Forward Pinellas is now studying the trail crossing at 22 due to safety concerns. And since that\u2019s similar to the crossing on 5th, the agency may be able to recommend safety improvements to both.<\/p>\n