ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Funding for the Complete Streets program was among the topics addressed by the city budget director during a presentation at Thursday\u2019s St. Petersburg City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Streets funding increased by $400,000 in FY27, from $1.15 million to $1.55 million, and by $450,000 in FY28 through FY31,\u201d Budget Director Liz Makofske said when going over details of the Community Investment Plan (CIP) preliminary budget for the 2027 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Funding for the Complete Streets program was among the topics addressed by the city budget director during a presentation at Thursday\u2019s St. Petersburg City Council Committee of the Whole meeting
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More funding for Complete Streets was one of the issues brought up the most during a recent budget open house \u2014 particularly when it comes to the\u00a0need for roadway improvements to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South
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Friends of Trails Crossing, a local not-for-profit, is spearheading the redevelopment of properties spanning two blocks of Dr. MLK South, called the Looking Glass Initiative. It aims to bring a teaching garden, community center, affordable food access, and more to the neighborhood
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There are still months of talks ahead before St. Pete\u2019s budget is finalized. The city council is expected to vote on whether to adopt it in September<\/p>\n
According to the city\u2019s website, \u201cComplete Streets makes strategic transportation network connections and improvements within St. Pete\u2019s grid of streets, taking into account the surrounding uses they\u2019re intended to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Makofske told the council that the preliminary FY27 funding for the program is made up of $650,000 in the Citywide Infrastructure Capital Improvement Fund, $550,000 in the Multimodal Impact Fees Capital Improvement Fund, and $350,000 in the Parking and Transportation Capital Improvement Fund.<\/p>\n
More funding for Complete Streets was one of the issues brought up the most during a recent budget open house \u2014 particularly when it comes to the\u00a0need for roadway improvements to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South.<\/p>\n
Kate Johnson was one of those who spoke on the topic. She plans to open a bookstore, Pages & Perks, in the 900 block of the street this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have anywhere that\u2019s real close by here that we could just grab a coffee real quick or you can go sit and hang out and work. So, I thought it was important to have a space where it\u2019s like a gathering space. Air conditioning, Wi-Fi,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
John Barkett, who owns the building Johnson will call home, said he\u2019s been pushing for road and traffic changes in the area for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is it. This is what I\u2019m talking about, right?\u201d Barkett said during an interview with Spectrum News when a woman in a wheelchair and a man with her got stuck in the middle of Dr. MLK South while trying to cross the street as traffic whizzed past. \u201cAre you guys okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat happens all the time,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n
She said her store\u2019s location is great for visibility, but the roadway leaves something to be desired.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur door opens right to where the street is, so families are coming in, and kids are running out. It would be wonderful to have a buffer between our front door and the speeding by cars,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll notice we\u2019ve got five lanes of traffic probably doing about 45 miles an hour on average here on Dr. MLK South. We\u2019ve got a bus stop right against traffic,\u201d said Barkett.<\/p>\n
Barkett\u2019s not-for-profit, Friends of Trails Crossing, is spearheading the redevelopment of properties spanning two blocks of Dr. MLK South, including the one Johnson\u2019s store will be in. It\u2019s called the Looking Glass Initiative. It aims to bring a teaching garden, community center, affordable food access, and more to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Barkett told Spectrum News he\u2019s been talking with PSTA, Forward Pinellas, and the city about changing the traffic pattern in the area and making improvements, like moving a bus stop a block over and away from traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s these little things, and you put them all together that make a bigger impact \u2014 push button crosswalks, moving bus stops, vacating alleys that are used for illegal dumping,\u201d said Barkett.<\/p>\n
Johnson she\u2019d like to see some of the Complete Streets funding spent along MLK South.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt needs to come to South St. Pete because it\u2019s the next place where people can afford to live, right? So, as communities are being pushed down this way, the budget and the city needs to reflect that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There are still months of talks ahead before St. Pete\u2019s budget is finalized. The city council is expected to vote on whether to adopt it in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Funding for the Complete Streets program was among the topics addressed by the city budget…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2031,274,558,770,2200,115,596,2718,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,729,2177,2032,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-247480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-app-local-business","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-community-news","12":"tag-instagram-bn9","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-pinellas-county","15":"tag-sarah-blazonis","16":"tag-st-pete","17":"tag-st-pete-headlines","18":"tag-st-pete-news","19":"tag-st-petersburg","20":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","21":"tag-st-petersburg-news","22":"tag-tampa","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-traffic","25":"tag-traffic-and-transit","26":"tag-trending-topics","27":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}