Justice and Consumer Services
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 Congestion Management in Pinellas County


Congestion Management Improvements are currently being addressed for these locations:

arrow McMullen-Booth Rd. (Tampa Rd. to Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.)
arrow 54th Ave. S (28th St. S. to 41st St. S.)
arrow 22nd Ave. N. (68th St. N. to Dr. Martin Luther King St.)
arrow Alt. U.S. Hwy 19 (Lakeview Rd. to the County Line)
arrow Belleair Rd. at Belcher Rd.
arrow East Bay Dr. at Belcher Rd.
arrow N.E. Coachman Rd. at Old Coachman Rd.
arrow Drew St. at Betty Ln.
arrow East Lake Rd. from Tarpon Woods Blvd. to Keystone Rd.

For Additional Information About Congestion Go To:

arrow Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
arrow State of the System Report
arrow Traffic Count Map/Level of Service Maps (See drop-down menu)

Traffic congestion has been known to cause motorist frustration, longer commuting times, lost productivity, increased cost for transporting goods, and deterioration of air quality. Frequently cited by residents as our most pressing transportation problem, congestion is a consequence of the dramatic population growth that occurred in Pinellas County during the past thirty years. 

Nationwide, the solution for traffic congestion has been to build more roads.  But that approach is no longer an alternative for much of Pinellas County because available land is now too scarce and costly.  In addition, the cost of labor and construction materials has risen dramatically for road projects, while funding for such projects has been reduced.  For this reason planners look at a full range of strategies to alleviate congestion, including applying Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology, adjusting signal timings and priorities, modifying roads to create turn lanes and bicycle lanes, and other types of improvements that support bicycle, pedestrian and mass transit travel, 

The MPO routinely monitors traffic conditions. Traffic count data is collected and performance measures are applied, yielding a letter grade for a road from “A” (excellent) to “F” (failing). The results are published in the MPO’s annual Level of Service Report Adobe Acrobat Reader file. By combining a variety of data (road performance, vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, data for transit and trail usage, etc.) the MPO develops its bi-annual State of the System Report, which helps identify funding priorities. The process is also used to develop the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).

If a segment of road is identified as deficient but it does not qualify as a funding priority or if road widening is not feasible, it may become the focus of a corridor study which specifically investigates the cause of the congestion and recommends low-cost improvement. One or two corridor studies are performed each year.