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FDOT officials present State Road 580 corridor study with short- and long-term safety and multimodal recommendations
Summary
FDOT and consultant staff presented an 8.5-mile corridor study of State Road 580 in Pinellas County identifying 17 projects across seven priority levels, emphasizing low-cost near-term safety fixes and longer-term changes requiring right-of-way and coordination.
FDOT staff and consultant lead Jeff Novotny presented findings of the State Road 580 corridor study to the Forward Pinellas board on May 14, 2025, covering the 8.5-mile corridor from Alt 19/Skinner Boulevard in Dunedin to Tampa Road in Oldsmar.
Jensen Hackett (FDOT bicycle and pedestrian planning program manager) and consultant project manager Jeff Novotny said the study combined traffic and safety data, public workshops and a project advisory group including local governments and PSTA. The team evaluated short-term improvements (those implementable without additional right of way) and long-term improvements that require additional right of way, higher cost, or more coordination.
The study ranked about 17 projects using six criteria developed with the advisory group: immediate safety benefit, crash history response, multimodal enhancement, access/traffic operations, cost (lower-cost projects ranked higher to enable sooner implementation), and public input. Short-term, priority-1 recommendations include enhanced pedestrian signing at four locations (Alt 19, Achieva Way, Overcash and Pinewood Drive), crosswalk and refuge improvements near the US 19 frontage road, lane delineation/sign improvements at Countryside, Old Tampa Bay Bridge approaches and Tampa Road, and an access management improvement at the Enterprise intersection.
Other priorities include mid-block crossings with refuge islands, bus pull-outs/bays near the Countryside Mall area (to reduce buses blocking bike lanes), left-turn-lane extensions at Keene Road, and potential shared-use widening of the Old Tampa Bay Bridge and Moccasin Creek Bridge if and when bridge replacement or major work occurs. Staff emphasized that many short-term items could be packaged into upcoming resurfacing projects. Public input from a September workshop favored the recommended improvements and helped refine priorities.
Board members asked detailed operational questions, including potential property impacts for bus bay construction and signal timing coordination for mid-block crossings. FDOT and staff said recommended projects are conceptual and will require additional outreach, design, right-of-way analysis, cost estimates and coordination with property owners and transit providers before implementation.
