Editor: Many residents of Harbour Club Condos A and C are dreading the day the new Belleair Beach Causeway Bridge opens.
It doesn’t take a professional to realize that the east end of the bridge is tantamount to the bottom of a high speed toboggan slide. Unfortunately, this end apron intersects with our Building C driveway and our exit to West Bay Drive. This circumstance has the potential to create a very hazardous situation. Probably, the hazard would have been reduced if the bridge planners had constructed the new bridge on the south side of the old bridge.
It has always been a challenge to safely make a left turn out of our driveway, but in the near future it could become a Russian roulette. Perhaps, you may recall the accident several years ago when an elderly lady from Building C driveway made a left turn onto West Bay and was struck by a westbound SUV. She looked to the left and then to the right but presumably neglected to look again to the left before proceeding. Unfortunately, she drove into the path of the speeding SUV and was hit by it. The SUV rolled for over 100 feet with its driver being ejected onto the pavement. From my fourth floor apartment, I see many near misses every day.
Now that the bridge planners have obviously compounded our exit problem, I believe a trip traffic signal is essential to the safety of Harbour Club drivers and other traffic. I have read that the decision makers state that the volume of traffic at this time on West Bay does not justify a traffic signal. Traffic volume adjacent to Harbour Club is only part of the problem. Many of our drivers are elderly with many of the more than 200 residents being in their 80s and with some even in their 90s. Not only do they have reduced reaction capabilities, but, at times, their visibility may be obstructed by a passenger, the blinding sun, fog or heavy rain.
Understandably, eastbound traffic will have to accelerate to get over the bridge. How many will slow down to the speed limit? My wife and I frequently walk along West Bay and have done so for the past 11 years. Our observations of drivers at various times is extensive. We never take the walk signal at intersections for granted. To some drivers coming from the beach, the 30 mph speed limit is apparently a joke. Compound this with drivers speeding as they are coming off the bridge, chatting on their cell phone or texting, and you have a potential nightmare. Will these same drivers be able to react safely driving in heavy rains or fog? Tolerance of driving behavior is not the answer, traffic control is the solution.
Harbour Club residents are careful drivers, but under the coming traffic conditions will they be able to safely enter West Bay, or will they be held hostage on their own property until the police respond to their call for help? The bridge has created a huge threat for all drivers exiting Harbour Club onto West Bay, and the only solution is a trip traffic signal. Without such a signal, the question is not whether a tragic accident will happen, but how soon it will happen.
