Petition Protests One-Way Streets On South BeachBy Anne McKay GarrisResidents of South Clearwater Beach have endured a great deal in the last eight years, with constant construction projects, fenced off empty properties, traffic tie-ups due to road construction and other trials connected with "progress" in their community. Now comes the cruelest threat of all, one-way streets which, they believe, will make life more difficult, maybe less safe. They have gathered several times to contemplate the City of Clearwater's proposal to make Coronado one-way going South and the more residentially oriented Devon one-way going North. The only other street running parallel to these two is South Gulf view, designated as the scenic drive on the Gulf front and, therefore, left as a two-way street. South Beach residents suggest that the plan encroaches on the residential part of the community to the serious detriment of the residents and their property values. Residents point out that the much referred to (and very expensive) Beach By Design plan specifically designates Coronado as the primary thoroughfare for South Beach, and plans for Hamden Drive to be left in its current use. In addition to hindering the access of emergency vehicles into the three residential fingers of the South Beach, the one-way street plan also eliminates buffering between conflicting zoning designations and increases noise pollution in the residential neighborhood. A petition to the Clearwater City Council is circulating for signatures and will be presented during the December 3 Council meeting, "hopefully backed up by a roomful of concerned Beach residents," according to one spokesman for the group.
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