Mayor D.C. Reeves announced this morning that he’s asking the Florida Department of Transportation to formally study the intersection at Gregory Street and 14th Avenue, where three motorcyclists have died this year.
- Hazard? An unintended consequence of eliminating the traffic light at 17th Avenue coming off the new bridge could be the creation of conditions where drivers naturally accelerate, with little infrastructure in place to encourage speed reduction.
Last week, the mayor told the media, “We’ve seen an abnormally large amount of activity that we don’t want to see coming off the bridge. The fatality and crash data that’s happening, especially in the 14th and Gregory area as you come off the landing and the bridge, is alarming for us.”
At his Nov. 25 press conference, Reeves disclosed he met with Interim Police Chief Kristin Brown the previous day to discuss what he described as a “formalized request” for action on the intersection.
“It’s one thing to identify a problem. Next is what’s the viable solution? And obviously FDOT’s voice and opinion in that is what matters most,” Reeves said. “Ultimately, it’s their road, but what we’ve been working on is trying to formulate the most educated recommendations we can give.”
The mayor laid out a specific scenario illustrating the traffic problem: “If one of the biggest issues is just that little sliver of road at 14th going down the hill. The fact that’s accessible, whether it’s taking a left, whether it’s going across all that, we know it causes significant issues. That being said, if it were closed and you were coming south on 14th, then to get onto Bayfront Parkway, you’d have to go all the way to the Bay Center and back. And so again, that’s why I always try to stop myself and know that I’m not a traffic engineer, but we can identify a problem when we see one.”
Reeves said, “To put together a request for FDOT, we wanted to pick the brains of PPD out there. They’re not traffic engineers necessarily either, but they’re seeing what these injuries and fatalities are looking like.”
The issue gained urgency following Interim Police Chief Kristin Brown’s report in late August that the city had recorded 10 traffic fatalities in 2025. Eight of the 10 deaths were directly caused by speeding, while six involved motorcycles. Three of the motorcycle fatalities occurred at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Gregory Street.
The mayor expects to have the letter ready for FDOT District 3 Secretary Tim Smith early next week.