UF Traffic Safety and Advocacy
Please feel free to email me with any edits, additions etc: Melissa Bell jaxbells@comcast.net
General Resources
On point blog post
Gainesville Area Resources Google Doc
Facebook group: Gators Against Student Pedestrian Deaths
Facebook page: Gainesville Citizens for Active Transportation - GCAT
Instagram: gcat_gainesville
Vision Zero
SR 26 / University Avenue Multimodel Emphasis Corridor Study - Final Report
Advocacy Actions
(1) Sign a Petition
General Petition: https://bit.ly/3p0QFse
Petition to install speed bumps on University Avenue: https://bit.ly/3syXe7o
(2) Email FL DOT, elected officials, and University of Florida leaders
Florida Department of Transportation
Kevin Thibault, Secretary of Transportation: Kevin.Thibault@dot.state.fl.us
Greg Evans, DOT Secretary over District 2 for Alachua County greg.evans@dot.state.fl.us
Find your representatives: https://myfloridahouse.gov/
Keep in mind that both University Avenue and 13th Street are owned/operated by the state and not the city. Prioritize by directing all communications to state representatives and senators from the Gainesville area.
Florida Senate
District 8: Keith Perry
perry.keith@flsenate.gov
(850) 487-5008
(352) 264-4040
4650 NW 39th Pl. Gainesville, 32605
Florida House of Representatives
District 10: Chuck Brannan
chuck.brannan@myfloridahouse.gov (corrected spelling)
(850) 717-5010
(386) 719-4600
678 SE Baya Drive, Lake City, 32025
District 20: Yvonne Hayes Hinson
Suite 202
2815 Northwest 13th Street
Gainesville, FL 32609-2865
(352) 264-4001
Twitter: @YvonneHinsonFL
Personal Email: yvonneforhd20@gmail.com
District 21: Charles Wesley “Chuck” Clemons, Sr.
Chuck.Clemons@myfloridahouse.gov
(850)717-5021
(352) 313-6542
105 SW 140th Court, Jonesville, 32669
Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis: GovernorRon.Desantis@eog.myflorida.com
Federal Government
Senate
Senator Marco Rubio
(202) 224-3041
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
Senator Rick Scott
(202) 224-5247
(850) 942-8415
716 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
House of Representatives
Representative Ted Yoho
www.yoho.house.gov (website is currently down)
(202) 225-5744
(352) 505-0838
511 Cannon House Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
University of Florida:
UF President Kent Fuchs: kent.fuchs@ufl.edu
Charlie Lane, Sr VP and COO: https://coo.ufl.edu/about/contact/
Mark Kaplan, VP of Government and Community Relations: https://gcr.ufl.edu/about-us/
Heather White, Assoc VP and Dean of Students: https://dso.ufl.edu/about/welcome/
Alachua County/Gainesville elected officials:
There is a Gainesville City Commission meeting THIS Thursday, January 21 starting at 1pm. It is accessible via Zoom. The meeting access code is 83160722757. There will be a phone number provided during the meeting for people to call in with questions or concerns. If your schedule allows, it is a good idea to attend this meeting to hear what steps the city has taken already, what actions they are trying to take and who the powers that be are to get changes done. Here is the link to the City of Gainesville page. It is suggested that emails be sent prior to Thursday to give the commissioners a chance to read all of them. https://bit.ly/390u9Kx
Gainesville Mayor:
Lauren Poe: info@laurenformayor.com or poelb@cityofgainesville.org
352-334-5016
His Facebook post https://bit.ly/3nWsU34 provides: “I have spoken with senior officials from the city and university and we are unified in our commitment to ending all deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We will work with the Florida Department of Transportation to make the major state highways bordering UF's main campus safe for all users. This has already been elevated to a high priority by the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MTPO). Our city staff is also in the final stages of our Vision Zero masterplan, our unified approach to eliminating all deaths and serious injuries on our roadways. We will coordinate all of our efforts with UF and FDOT to achieve this goal.”
City Commission
Commissioner at Large 1: Gail Johnson johnsong1@cityofgainesville.org
Commissioner at Large 2: Helen K. Warren warrenhk@cityofgainesville.org (Note: My email bounced)
Commissioner District 1: Gigi Simmons simmonsgg@cityofgainesville.org
Commissioner District 2: Harvey Ward, Jr. wardhl@cityofgainesville.org
Commissioner District 3: David Arreola arreoladi@cityofgainesville.org
Commissioner District 4: Adrian Hayes-Santos hayessantosa@cityofgainesville.org
Commissioner: Reina Saco sacore@cityofgainesville.org
Alachua County Commission
352-264-6900
12 SE 1st Street, 32601
District 1: Mary Alford malford@alachuacounty.us
District 2: MariHelen Wheeler mwheeler@alachuacounty.us
District 3: Anna Prizzia aprizzia@alachuacounty.us
District 4: Ken Cornell kcornell@alachuacounty.us
District 5: Charles S. “Chuck” Chestnut, IV cschestnut@alachuacounty.us
Sample emails:
Melissa Bell:
I am the parent of two University of Florida students and am writing to address serious safety concerns for pedestrians on and near the University. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in foot traffic on University Avenue and 13th Street adjacent to the University of Florida due in large part to new housing developments such as Midtown, the Standard, College Park at Midtown, Craftsman, Greystone, Social 28, Hub on University, and Hub on 3rd, among others. With a strip known for speeding vehicles, alcohol consumption, and a growing number of pedestrians, there have been far too many auto accidents, injuries, and fatalities.
On October 28, 2016, UF student, Abigail Dougherty, was struck and killed by a garbage truck while crossing West University Avenue on her bike. She died just six days before her 21st birthday.
On February 11, 2017, a drunk driver drove over a curb, onto a sidewalk and hit three people at an RTS bus stop outside of Campus Club Apartments, killing 22 year old UF student Karan Khullar.
On January 9, 2020, 20 year old Kassandra Guzman-Ramirez lost her life after her legally drunk boyfriend recklessly raced down West University Avenue at a speed of approximately 75 mph and he lost control.
On January 29, 2020, Denise Griffiths, a 21-year-old UF English language and literature senior, was walking onto a crosswalk on University Avenue when she was struck by a vehicle.
In the past two months, there have been two more fatalities, as well as other serious injuries due to vehicular accidents on University Avenue. Tragically, on the evening of December 10, 2020, an 18-year-old University of Florida freshman, Maggie Paxton, was crossing University Avenue when she was struck and killed by a speeding vehicle in a hit and run accident. More recently, on January 16, 2021, a group of students standing on the sidewalk along University Avenue were plowed down by a car in the aftermath of a collision. One student, 19-year-old Sophia Lambert, was killed, and 5 others were hospitalized.
Young, promising students who had great potential, as well as families who loved them. Families that are now forever shattered. While one or two "accidents" may be considered a coincidence, there is an undeniable pattern. How many more people will lose their lives before the state, city, county, university, ANYONE decides to do something? Please do not send a canned reply claiming that you cannot address the problem because of jurisdictional or other bureaucratic excuses. Now is the time to step up and do something. Collaborate with state, city, University and county officials to develop meaningful solutions. During football game days, University Avenue is closed to vehicular traffic to increase safety. Why not expand this measure to weekends as well? Other safety options may include an increased police presence, concrete pedestrian barriers between streets and sidewalks, lower speed limits, ticket enforcement, overpasses or tunnels.
There is absolutely no excuse not to take immediate safety measures while developing more permanent solutions. Thank you for your time and efforts to make Gainesville safer. #NotOneMore
Sincerely,
Melissa Bell
**************
David Dozier, III:
To the Honorable Mayor Lauren Poe,
By now I imagine you have received numerous emails from UF students and concerned parents regarding the tragic accident that took the life of a UF Freshman Sophia Lambert (Class of 2024) Saturday evening. I, too, am adding my voice to this matter as a parent of a ’22 Gator and ’19 Gator and someone who volunteers as a Family Ambassador for UF.
You may or may not be aware that another UF Freshman, Margaret Paxton, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in the same area as Sophia (https://www.gainesville.com/.../uf-student.../3881303001/). Sadly, the driver has yet to be apprehended in that case. Perhaps you and your colleagues could help to bring more attention to Margaret’s case to help bring some closure for her family.
In barely one month’s time, we have lost two precious lives and families and friends have been changed forever because of the traffic surrounding the UF campus; that is 2 too many in my view and I am sure there have been others over the years. I am urging you to work with your colleagues at the state and local level to implement changes to improve student safety as soon as possible. Working together I am confident we can make a difference and prevent further loss of life or injury, if there is anything else you need from me to help please let me know.
Thank you for your time and service to the City of Gainesville.
I remain
Respectfully Yours,
David V. Dozier, III
****************
Samuel Berens
As someone who lives in Midtown Apartments just behind where this tragedy occurred and is now in my third year in this area, I can confidently say the street setup on 13th Ave and even more so on University Ave abutting campus is atrocious. I’m a minor in urban and regional planning and in the field, this is what we would call a “stroad,” which is a portmanteau of “street” and “road.” It tries to do the jobs of both types of thoroughfares, being a pedestrian walkway and a fast moving state highway. Those two things cannot safely coexist without serious casualty, as we have already seen. The area is not what it was 10-15 years ago anymore, the population immediately surrounding the north and east borders of campus (Midtown and University Heights neighborhoods) has exploded, and the businesses along University all the way to downtown have suffered tremendously from being situated along such a hodge-podge strip. If I were in charge of Gainesville, I would be taking legal action to reclaim this road from FDOT and we would have narrowed University Ave between the O’Connell parking lot all the way to Downtown (or at least as far as 13th Ave) from two lanes of traffic in either direction to one, forcing drivers to slow down and massively expanding pedestrian, bicycle, etc capacity to better reflect the changing transportation needs of this area and bolster the value of many of the floundering businesses along this route.
(3) Consider writing a letter to the editor (thank you Maru for the information)
Gainesville Sun
Tips for Writing a Letter to the Editor (Gainesville Sun)
The Gainesville Sun (local newspaper) publishes opinion pieces from the public in their “letters to the editor”. It is important to note that not all submissions are published and those that are may be edited “for clarity, length, taste and libel”.
Gainesville Sun Letters to the Editor must be 150 words or less. Submit your letter by email: letters@gainesville.com
Alligator
Alligator Letters to the Editor must be 250 words or less
https://www.alligator.org/page/submit-a-letter
Things to consider / include when submitting a letter to any newspaper:
(see this wiki for more details: https://www.wikihow.com/Write-Letters-to-the-Editor )
● Include your contact information. The newspaper will contact you before printing your letter.
● Begin by addressing the editor (e.g., Dear Editor)
● State the issue and your position clearly and concisely
● Include a personal example or story
● Say what should be done <- action!
● Name names / give readers a way to find more information on the subject
● Sign the letter with your name and city, and include affiliation if writing in a professional capacity (e.g., Sincerely, My Name, Gainesville OR Sincerely, Dr. My Name, Professor of XX, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL)