County seeks funding to storm-harden traffic signals 

Pinellas County is looking for additional funding for a nearly $11 million project that will storm-harden 35 traffic signals along major evacuation routes.

At their May 6 meeting, without discussion, county commissioners unanimously approved applying for two state-administered federal grants totaling $8.23 million. Pinellas must contribute $2.74 million.

Officials anticipate receiving the funding. Background documents also state that Pinellas has already received $10.5 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding “as a result of the Presidential Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Debby.”

“More resilient traffic infrastructure will be less likely to go out of service during storm events, reducing the risk to public safety,” states the document. “Mast arm signals and modified traffic cabinets will allow for roads to remain open and emergency personnel to have better access to support citizen needs.”

After the meeting, interim public information manager Tony Fabrizio said the county continues adding new signals to an ongoing storm-hardening project. He said the initiative is countywide and not specific to any city.

Documents state that the county is replacing span wire signals with galvanized steel mast arms at a cost of $2.06 million per intersection. Officials lack funding for five intersections along evacuation routes.

The environmentally resilient mast arms will also reduce future maintenance and repair costs. Documents note that numerous span wire signals fell during Hurricane Debby, which rendered the equipment inoperable, blocked roadways and created “dangerous situations.”

The Florida Division of Emergency Management distributes the grant funding provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The recently requested money stems from allocations for Debby, a relatively minor storm.

However, Hurricanes Helene and Milton subsequently decimated the area. For example, the latter storm downed over 100 traffic signals in St. Petersburg, and Pinellas is home to 24 municipalities.

The county is also modifying and elevating traffic signal control cabinets along evacuation routes to mitigate flood impacts during storms. Documents note that the equipment is particularly vulnerable on barrier island roadways.

“The cabinets house sensitive electronic equipment to operate the traffic signals and include an uninterruptible power supply to maintain signal operations to support evacuation and emergency response during a power outage,” states the application. “More resilient traffic infrastructure will be less likely to go out of service during storm events, reducing risk to public safety.

“These projects benefit the entire county.”

Officials have included the anticipated $2.74 million match in their fiscal year 2025 and 2026 public works budgets. If the grant is not awarded for Debby’s impacts, they will consider resubmitting the project for hazard mitigation funding related to Helene and Milton.

The presidential administration terminated FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and cancelled $882 billion in previously planned awards. In March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged that federal officials would “eliminate FEMA” altogether.

However, local governments believe hazard mitigation funding is safer and could help fill gaps created by BRIC’s untimely demise. Pinellas officials have also requested $1 million to storm-harden traffic signals from the state legislature.

The local funding initiative application is specifically for beach communities along Gulf Boulevard. Approximately 100,000 people live on the barrier islands.

“The expected benefit will be to maintain operations of the traffic signals and to protect the sensitive electronic equipment inside the traffic control cabinet from saltwater damage during storm surge/flooding events,” states the Senate request. “The outcome will be measured by how many traffic signals remain operational and are not subjected to flooding during storm events.”

The Senate approved the $1 million ask. The House offered $500,000.