Boley Centers' Consumer Advisory Council (CAC) joined forces
to persuade the City of St. Petersburg to
install a flashing crosswalk at a very busy corner in St. Petersburg. At the January 2010 Consumer
Advisory Council (CAC) meeting, Beverly C., a consumer at Bessie Boley
Apartments, brought up a safety issue concerning the corner of 6th Street South
and 34th Avenue South,
adjacent to the Koenig Center Campus and Mosher Apartments. She said she
had personally witnessed close calls while Boley consumers were trying to cross
6thStreet at that intersection. She said that cars really pick up speed
on that stretch of road and that it was “an accident waiting to
happen.” She suggested the City put in a marked crosswalk with a
flashing beacon at that location.
The staff advisor to the CAC sent an e-mail to the City Director of
Transportation and the Council member for the district, following that up with
phone calls and a letter describing this dangerous situation. After a few
months, the covered bus stop was moved closer to the intersection. Knowing
that this was not enough though, fifty six consumers from the Koenig Center
campus wrote individual letters to Mayor Foster and the City Council asking for
their help, and a petition was created and sent it. In April, 2011, one
month after the letters and petition were delivered, a flashing beacon was
installed and at least one consumer recently marveled “the cars really stop
when it’s flashing!”
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Crosswalk Effort
