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Burgess Street and Sanders Streets area residents
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A standing room only crowd of concerned residents packed the large meeting room at the Tryon Library on Langley Ave., on April 12th, to meet with public officials to discuss their concerns regarding Burgess Street and Sanders Rd.
For years, residents of the area have lived in fear of speeding cars and constant crashes at the intersection of Burgess Road and Sanders Street. According to the Florida Highway Patrol crash reports for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 there have been 13 reported crashes at the intersection. Some crashes are not reported if only one vehicle is involved in an accident, such as running off the road into a yard or ditch.
Burgess Rd., is an old rural state road that was taken over by the City of Pensacola about 5 years ago. It is a narrow road with ditches on either side. There are no stop signs along Burgess Rd., from Davis Highway and Lanier which invites a lot of high speed traffic, making it dangerous for residents, especially the many school children walking to Holms Elementary School and Workman School. Many parents drive their children to school for fear they will not be safe on Burgess and Sanders Street.
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| John Phillips chair, county and city officials present |
The City and County are will aware of the dangerous conditions along both Burgess and Sanders, but since part of Burgess and Sanders are in the city and county, until recently neither wanted to take jurisdiction to solve the problems. However, on Tuesday night the County stepped up to the plate and offered to pay the county's share to put sidewalks on Burgess and to address the speeding problems. The meeting was attended by Commissioner Grover Robinson, County Administrator Randy Oliver, Larry Newsom the County Administrator, Al Garza the head of City Transportation and officials from the City engineering Department. The residents were very eager to have Mayor Ashton Hayward in attendance as he had promised. However, according to a staff person in attendance the Mayor decided to attend the Honor Flight event instead of meeting with citizens to discuss their concerns. The Mayor's attendance was vitally importance to the meeting to discuss the City's role in addressing the concerns of the community. As of the writing of this blog, April 15, the mayor has not contact me to explain his absence or to offer to attend another meeting.
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| Residents are energized though mayor is no show |
As Mayor Hayward has not contact me to find out the outcome of the meeting, I will be urging residents to take their meeting to City Hall to the City Council meetings. The Council holds the purse strings and can approve the funds needed to calm traffic and install sidewalks along Burgess and Sanders Street.
The April 12th meeting is just the start of an effort by residents of the Burgess and Sanders Street communities. The Parker Circle Neighborhood Association that has been instrumental in bringing about many positive changes in the community will continue to pursue organizing the community and advocating for the District's fair share of tax revenues until the mission of improving the safety of the streets is accomplished
REMINDER: City Council meeting at City Hall, April 21, at 5:30. Open Forum at 5:30 for citizens to speak for up to 4 minutes before City Council. It makes a difference. Call me if you need more information at 484-0902 or send me an e-mail at sfmada.@aol.com
