The homeless community has been a major concern for years in St. Petersburg, many linger in Williams
Park. To help the problem, the city plans to remove bus shelters at Williams Park and disperse more bus stops throughout downtown.
To get to campus three times a week, graduate student Shawn Fok takes the Central Avenue Trolley from St. Pete Beach to a hub at Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg before making a 15-minute walk to school.
“The first time going downtown was a little scary at first since I’m not familiar with the area,” said Fok, 26. “The people hanging out at Williams Park looked frightening to me. But now that I come here more often, it looks less dangerous now.”
Fok’s itinerary is about to change. Stung by charges that they helped turn a historic park into a notorious hangout for drug dealers and the homeless, the city and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority plan to remove the bus shelters at Williams Park and disperse bus stops over a 16-block area of downtown streets. The change is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 14.
“We want to make a more efficient transportation system,” said St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse. “Our purpose is to make Williams Park more welcoming again since it is the town square. It will bring more activities and people back in the area.”
PSTA plans to locate areas of transit connection by adding bus stops and shelters on other roads downtown.
“Instead of the park being the destination, we want to spread out the buses, so the city becomes the destination,” said Ashlie Handy, the media liaison for the transit authority. She said that the plan is to have the buses going down one street parallel or perpendicular from each other.
“A person can hop off one bus, go around the corner to catch another bus until they get to their destination,” she said. “The goal is to get people to their destination faster and smoother.”
Williams Park is almost as old as the city itself. Named for a co-founder of the city, it fills an entire block bounded by First and Second avenues N and Third and Fourth streets. For decades, the park and its band shell were the site of concerts, political rallies (Richard Nixon stopped by in 1964 and President Gerald Ford in 1976). celebrations and even a love-in in 1967.
The park has been a bus transit hub since the early ‘50s. As bus shelters began sprouting along the south boundary of the park, however, the once-beloved block began to lose its luster.
Twenty-one bus routes now converge there, and so do dozens of loiterers, sleepers and – police say – drug dealers.
“It’s hard to tell the difference between the drug dealers, the homeless or those just waiting for their bus,” Handy, 26, said.
A handful of students use the buses for transportation. Other bus riders include freshman Richard Ayala and sophomore Quan Jones, who both take Route 4, which passes the campus on Sixth Avenue.
“I sometimes go to Williams Park to catch Route 14 or the trolley,” said Ayala, 20. “I feel safe walking through there. But according to my friends, there might be strangers there.”
The grid system is still being planned. PSTA will hold seven public outreach workshops starting on Oct. 24 and ending on Nov. 3. The meetings are open to the public for questions and input on the schedules and routes.
“We want to encourage more ridership by dealing with some issues that people have of this plan,” said Handy.
If the changes are approved, come February Fok and other USFSP riders will get off the bus a lot closer to campus.
Information:
USFSP students, faculty and staff can ride the PSTA buses for free. Just show the bus driver your campus ID.
For information on bus schedules and public meeting schedules, call the info line at (727) 540-1900 or visit psta.net
