Pensacola Traffic Safety
Today, Pensacola City Administrator David Stafford filled in for Mayor D.C. Reeves at his weekly press conference. He gave an update on the intersection of 14th Avenue and Gregory Street, which is one of the city’s most dangerous traffic areas.
- “The Florida DOT just finished collecting updated traffic counts on Gregory Street coming off of the Three-Mile Bridge,” he said. “They’re starting what’s called a ‘warrant analysis’ and expect to have that analysis complete by the end of August. That analysis will tell us if the data supports a signal at 14th and Gregory.”
I asked Stafford if the city and FDOT believed a traffic light was the best solution.
- “I think it was one of multiple,” he said. “It’s no mystery to them that’s an area of concern for not only the mayor but also the municipal police and fire, um, that have to. So the idea is what things can be done to help alleviate some of that, and one of the things that came up in discussion was the possibility of a light.”
In the meantime: Stafford said that FDOT is taking a few steps to improve safety along Gregory Street as vehicles exit the Three-Mile Bridge, which will be completed in September. “They include supplemental signage, pavement markings to direct motorists on the proper lane they need to be in to get to I-110, 35-mph pavement shields to further alert drivers of the reduced speed limit as they come onto Gregory Street, and speed feedback signs on the ramp coming off the bridge.”
Why That Intersection?
The intersection of SR 30 (US 98) East Gregory Street at North 14th Avenue recorded 22 vehicular crashes and three motorcycle fatalities in 2025 through December 8, 2025. Read more.
In April, Mayor Reeves shared that following an in-person meeting with the Florida Department of Transportation, progress was being made on the long-contested intersection improvements at 14th Avenue and Gregory Street. He said having both teams’ engineers in the same room broke a logjam that had been playing out in competing emails.
- The key takeaway, Reeves said, was that both sides agreed there’s a problem and, like the old public service announcement, knowing is half the battle.
- Reeves admitted, “This would be a lot longer, a lot more painful if one side thought it wasn’t a problem and one side thought it was.”
- Four months later, something is happening.