3. RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 21: Establish a bicycle/ pedestrian connection on E. 127 th Avenue between N. 20 th Street and N. 22 nd Street at a future time. One of the largest breaks in the E. 131 st Avenue area grid network is east of N. 22 nd Street where no official bicycle, pedestrian or roadway connection exist between Fowler Avenue on the south and E. 131 st Avenue on the north, a distance of ¾ of a mile. Although E. 127 th Avenue roadway does not connect between N. 20 th Street and N. 22 nd Street, the right-of- way does connect. By using this right-of-way to create a bicycle / pedestrian connection in the form of a multi-use trail, the barrier between Fowler Avenue and E. 131 st Avenue can be broken. This recommendation would be more appropriate after further redevelopment at the University Mall site and in the residential areas along E. 127 th Avenue. Currently the prevalence of vacant lots to the west of the unimproved right-of-way may present safety issues. Recommendation 22: Formalize bicycle/ pedestrian connection between E. 122 nd Avenue and the university mall area. Extend connection as recreation trail on the south shore of Duck Pond to increase visibility into and use of stormwater parcel. Working in conjunction with Recommendation 21, this recommendation also acts to mitigate the break in the street network east of N. 22 nd Street between Fowler Avenue on the south and E. 131 st Avenue on the north. An informal dirt path connects E. 122 nd Avenue on the west to the
University Mall property on the east, proceeding through several Hillsborough County owned properties. Currently parts of the path are inaccessible to vehicles, including police patrol vehicles, emergency vehicles and maintenance vehicles. In addition, many parts of the informal trail are not visible to neighboring roads creating safety issues. Formalizing this path would turn a safety liability into a community asset and provide alternative transportation and recreation opportunities to residents. In addition, this shared-use path could be continued to the west along the shoreline of the stormwater pond. In this location thick vegetation prevents law enforcement from being able to properly patrol the area. By creating a shared-use path in this area, visibility to the water would be enhanced and the parcels would be further activated with people using the facility for recreation purposes. Coordination with the University Mall would need to be held as a small portion of the pond is on mall property.
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E. 131 ST AVENUE PLAT STUDY PRELIMINARY LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION STUDY
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