Dangerous Intersections – TAMPA BAY AREA

According to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) some of the most dangerous intersections in Pinellas County are in Largo, Florida. Driving in Largo, Florida could mean that you are more vulnerable to car crash than elsewhere in Pinellas County according to this data.

The MPO recently released its annual traffic crash statistics for Pinellas County. Fifty (50)intersections were identified along with the number of crashes there. “We’ve got a number of intersections where people are trying to go east-west and north-south on major road crossings, plus you have very wide roads where you may have six lanes crossing six lanes,” said Pinellas County planning director Brian Smith. “These are usually things that are just hard to deal with.”

Of the 50 hardest to deal with intersections, nine can be found in the Largo. The Belcher-Ulmerton intersection is one that is on this list. It has been a difficult intersection for many years. The intersection ranks 35 among the top 50 most dangerous intersections in Pinellas County. It’s just one of the many that have ranked high year after year. Others include:

• 66th Street and Ulmerton Road in Pinellas County near Largo
• East Bay Drive and Keene Road in Pinellas County near Largo
• 66th Street and 142nd Avenue in Pinellas County near Largo
• Belcher Road and East Bay Drive in Pinellas County near Largo
• Ulmerton Road and Seminole Boulevard in Pinellas County near Largo
• Ulmerton Road and Starkey Road in Pinellas County near Largo
• Missouri Avenue and West Bay Drive in Pinellas County near Largo
• U.S. Highway 19 and East Bay Drive in Pinellas County near Largo

Currently the Metropolitan Planning Organization is looking closer at the locations and plan for engineering improvements to ease traffic and possibly save lives.

A couple of factors that contribute to this danger are red light running, driving inappropriately, making wrong turns or exceeding the speed limit.

Many to the most dangerous intersections have been and continue to be under aggressive traffic enforcement. Some of the dangerous intersections simply cannot handle the volume of traffic during certain times of the day. Other Tampa Bay Area dangerous intersections include:

• Park Blvd. and Seminole Blvd. in Pinellas County near Seminole
• Seminole Blvd. and 102nd Avenue in Pinellas County near Seminole
• U. S. Highway 19 and Tampa Road in Pinellas County near Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs
• U.S. 19 and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Pinellas County near Clearwater
• U.S. 19 and Drew Street in Pinellas County near Clearwater
• U.S. 19 and Sunset Point Road in Pinellas County near Clearwater
• Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road in Pinellas County near Clearwater
• Hanley Road and Waters Ave in Hillsborough County near Tampa and Town and Country
• Brandon Blvd. and Brandon Town Center Drive in Hillsborough County near Brandon
• Bell Shoals Road and Bloomington Ave. in Hillsborough County near Bloomingdale and Brandon
• Anderson Road and Waters Ave. in Hillsborough County near Citrus Park and Tampa
• Bearss Ave. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Hillsborough County near North Tampa and New Tampa
• Bruce B. Downs Blvd and Interstate 75 in Hillsborough County near New Tampa and Lutz
• Columbus Drive and Dale Mabry Hwy in Hillsborough County near Tampa
• Hillsborough Ave. and Lois Ave. in Hillsborough County near Tampa and Drew Park
• Memorial Hwy and Courtney Campbell Causeway in Hillsborough County near Tampa
• Bruce B. Downs Blvd and Fowler Ave. in Hillsborough County near New Tampa and USF
• SR 52 and US Hwy 19 in Pasco County near Port Richey and Bayonet Point
• SR 54 and US Hwy 41 in Pasco County near New Port Richey
• Moog Road and US Hwy 19 in Pasco County near Holiday and New Port Richey
• Ridge Road and US Hwy 19 in Pasco County near Port Richey
• CR 1 and SR 52 Pasco County Hudson and Land O’ Lakes

DRIVE DEFENSIVEY and OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS.