The answer for Florida Road traffic is to extend 17th Street across the river, and utilize the existing light at 17th Street and Main Avenue. Seventeenth Street is already elevated so a bridge will not be a problem.
It is already a wide street that has handled large traffic loads when the hospital was there. The unused part of Florida Road could continue to connect directly with Third Avenue, but access to 14th Street and 15th Street would not be needed. Or access from 14th Street to Third Avenue southbound could be retained.
This proposal would eliminate most of the traffic on both 14th and15th streets, and would much improve safety and flow at those streets’ intersections with Main Avenue.
This solution obviously impacts some of the residents in the trailer park across from 17th Street. The topography and the number of structures in the area guarantee that some people will be impacted by whatever solution is chosen.
It is better to have a good solution that impacts people than a bad solution that impacts people.
Wayne Pratt
Hesperus
