El Prado Update and Action Needed!

I am told the "The city staff are now about to start the construction stage" and "At this point the only person who could stop the project would be the mayor,..." 

We need everyone to please reach out to the Mayor's office to voice your objections. 

https://www.tampa.gov/mayor/contact 

Jane.Castor@tampagov.net
(813) 274-8251

Below is some new information that was not in the petition:

• El Prado is not in the High Injury Network

• El Prado does not appear to have systemic safety issues; the 2018 study identified zero pedestrian or bicycle crashes.

• A comprehensive analysis of smaller residential streets for impacts from increased vehicular traffic from El Prado lane reductions was not performed.  Throughway drivers that reroute during congestion could affect a vulnerable population—children in our neighborhoods.  The El Prado change might actually create systemic safety issues inside Bel Mar units.

Manhattan’s lane closures provide compelling proof for the impact of lane closures on our streets. In our Bel Mar Unit we had over 3 years of zero traffic citations, in the last 5.5 months we have had 200+ traffic citations and much heavier traffic volume. 

• 18 trees will be removed for a second sidewalk between Bayshore and Lois—the trees to be removed between Lois and Omar are missing from plan.  There is already a complete sidewalk on the south side of El Prado. 

• El Prado corridors were service level As and Bs according to the 2018 study.  By 2024 all El Prado corridors were rated Cs—with four lanes.  Removing two lanes could drop El Prado to a D.  F is gridlock.  The impact on current service level has not been studied. Factors compound and degradation with increased volumes could occur.

• The impact of future growth in volume was not considered, making the 2018 report incomplete.