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Suncoast Pinellas News

Downtown street lighting project needs more study

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: May 24, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS - Florida Department of Transportation officials told the city more analysis is needed before the state agency will authorize the installation of old-style street lights on Tarpon and Pinellas avenues.

The City Commission decided Tuesday night to go along with the DOT request even though doing so will increase the cost of designing the street light project by more than a third. The vote was 4-0, with Commissioner Peter Dalacos absent from the meeting.

In February, the City Commission awarded the design contract for the street light project along Tarpon Avenue and Pinellas Avenue, the primary streets in the city's downtown area. The city tapped the Tampa Bay office of Maryland-based consulting engineering firm Greenhorne & O'Mara to produce the lighting plan.

The old fashioned-style lights that once adorned the street were removed as part of a DOT-led downtown street resurfacing and restoration project.

Greenhorne & O'Mara has completed 30 percent of the lighting design, Jay Jackus, city purchasing administrator, told commissioners.

Reaching the 30 percent milestone triggered a review by DOT staffers. The state transportation officials have concluded the city needs to submit a lighting report that analyzes existing roadway illumination and a structural evaluation of whether foundations of the street lights that were removed can be used again.

Tuesday night commissioners agreed to increase the contract amount from $70,000 to $96,370, or 37 percent, to pay for the additional report DOT wants.

In the meantime, DOT has issued a notice to proceed on another local project, installing decorative landscaping along medians created during the street resurfacing and restoration project. The city has acquired a state landscaping grant of up to $150,000 to pay for that project.

DOT officials recently suggested the city landscape Pinellas and Tarpon avenues in two phases in order to gain access to the grant funds in a timelier manner.

Under the revised plan, shrubs, ground cover and small trees not of a specialized nature would be planted in medians first. The specialized, or "contract," trees will be planted later, as they reach maturity over the next 15 months.

The contract trees are Walter's viburnum, Yaupon holly and White Geiger. DOT usually prefers the use of contract trees in median areas because they can withstand drought and the negative effects of passing vehicles and at the same time don't obstruct motorists' vision and will be less rigid if struck by cars or trucks.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to proceed with the two-phase median landscaping project.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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