Report: Florida still the most dangerous state for pedestrians. (Tampa Bay Times)

How many people have died in St. Johns County because FDOT and County Administrator don't give a fig about pedestrians or bicyclists?  Streets and highways built without consideration to pedestrian and bicycle safety produce a Butcher's bill that is the worst in the Nation.

At a City workshop on mobility in St. Augustine circa 2012 held at the Alligator Farm, chocolatier-capitalist Henry M. Whetstone, Sr. exclaimed,   "Why are we catering to bicycles?"  To which I responded, "Why are we catering to Cadillacs."

From Tampa Bay Times:

Report: Florida still the most dangerous state for pedestrians

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was ranked ninth in this year's report, with 900 deaths over a 10-year period through 2016.

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Lissian Poochool and Nina Negron use a pedestrian crosswalk on Fowler Avenue at 22nd Street in Tampa in December. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was ranked as the nation's ninth most dangerous region for pedestrians in a new report, with 900 deaths over a 10-year period through 2016. [LUIS SANTANA | Times]

By Caitlin Johnston

Published 5 hours ago

Tampa Bay remains one of the deadliest places to walk in America, joining seven other Florida cities in the top 10 most dangerous places in the country for pedestrians, according to a report released Wednesday.

The advocacy group Smart Growth America compares pedestrian safety among cities of different sizes as part of its Dangerous By Design report. Tampa Bay's rank among the most deadly regions dropped from 7 to 9 since the last study in 2016, but the number of pedestrian deaths increased in that same time period.

Nationwide, 2016 and 2017 were the two most deadly years for pedestrians in the past three decades, said Emiko Atherton, director of the National Complete Streets Coalition with Smart Growth America.

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"The bottom line is we are killing more people," she said.

Florida remains the nation's most deadly state for those who journey on foot, topping the group's study for the last three reports since 2014. The state's numbers are "significantly, significantly higher" than Alabama, which ranked second, Atherton said.

Back in 2016, the seven most dangerous metro communities for pedestrians were all in the Sunshine State. Bakersfield, Calif., broke up those rankings this year, claiming the seventh position. 

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was ranked ninth in this year's report, with 900 deaths over a 10-year period through 2016. In the previous report, Tampa Bay ranked seventh with 821 pedestrians killed over a 10-year period through 2014.

This rise in fatalities comes after Tampa Bay has made investments in bike lanes, intersection improvements and "complete streets," an urban design approach that promotes safety and convenience for all users and modes of transportation.

St. Petersburg has committed to a 20-year initiative that over the next five years would add 60 miles of bike lanes, trails and markings and about 92 pedestrian crossings to city streets.

The city drew ire from some residents after replacing one traffic lane on Martin Luther King Jr. Street between Fourth and 30th avenues N with extra-wide bike lanes as part of its complete streets efforts.

Tampa quashed a plan to add bike lanes on Bay-to-Bay Boulevard after facing similar criticism. But the city has added bike lanes and markings to 98 miles of its roads in recent years, with plans for 20 more miles of bike projects in the next fiscal year, including projects along Himes Avenue, Ashley Drive and El Prado Boulevard.

Still, the numbers of pedestrian deaths continue to rise.

"These changes take time," Atherton said. "We spent decades building an unsafe system."

She said it is important to evaluate whether resources are being spent on the streets that have the heaviest pedestrian traffic and need the most work, or if those funds are being diverted to other roads that have less of an impact but more political will backing their improvements.

"Sometimes the streets that need retrofitting the most face the most political opposition," Atherton said.