I wrote an article back in the summer of 2022 titled “Stroads” and it identified some of the worst examples in the City of New Port Richey. Streets are designed with local residents and businesses in mind. Speeds are expected to be fairly low. Roads are designed to get folks from one place to another as quickly as possible. Examples of streets include Main Street in downtown New Port Richey and residential streets. Examples of roads include the Suncoast Parkway, Interstate 75 and rural roads like State Road 50 east of 301. A Stroad is a combination of a street and a road.
Stroads try to be both local streets and roads, generally winding up doing nothing particularly well. Local examples include US 19, SR 52 in West Pasco, Little Road, Ridge Road and State Road 54. In all three cases, there are numerous curb cuts so that you can access the businesses along the highway. Thru traffic can’t go as fast as drivers want and cars entering and leaving the highway are put at risk by the faster thru traffic.
In Golden Acres, we can add Osceola Drive to the list of local stroads. Osceola is nominally a residential street, but there is more than a little cut through traffic by cars trying to get from SR 52 to Ridge Road. The county recently repainted bright double yellow lines down the middle of Osceola. They appear to serve as racing stripes and we’ve seen more cars going down Osceola far faster than the posted 30mph speed limit. A few weeks ago we saw an extreme example. A car going south on Osceola got to the final left hand curve before the street dead-ends in Royal Palm. The curve is relatively gentle, then straightens out slightly, and finally becomes much sharper. A lady speeding through this final section lost control, took out a concrete block mailbox and came to a stop with the car on its side. 
The south stretch of Osceola is a very dangerous strode. We will cut across the yard to get to a side street instead of venturing out on Osceola with our bikes.
It doesn’t have to be this way. When streets are narrow and without any lane markings, drivers naturally slow down. Add bushes, sidewalks, trees, etc. on the sides and the street appears even narrower than it actually is. That will also slow down traffic. A great example, just a block from the south end of Osceola, is the bridge on Royal Palm. Folks ALWAYS slow down for the bridge, especially if someone in a full size pickup is coming from the other direction.
Do you have issues with folks flying down the road in your neighborhood?
Rob
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