TAMPA, Fla. — As traffic grows in south Tampa, so does the frustration on the roads.

Ron Folkman lives at the busy intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Gandy Boulevard. He says in addition to increased traffic, he sees speed as an issue as well.   

“You see the motorcycles, the Ferraris, they get to this strip,” Folkman said. “And now this is known as the drag strip. This is the one opportunity where they don’t see a speed sign. And they can open it up. And there’s no red lights. They let it rip.”

He’s talking about Bayshore Boulevard, which has undergone several changes in recent years to make the road safer with things like signs, speed bumps and traffic lights.

However at Gandy Boulevard, where Folkman lives, there aren’t as many restrictions. He says it’s leading to speed and crashes.

“Some of the cars race each other and speed,” Folkman said. “Because between here and MacDill (MacDill Air Force Base), there are no lights. You make that corner and see no signage so you let it go.”

Law enforcement has tried to crack down on street racing over the last year in Tampa. Tampa Police and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office made several racing related arrests in June, during Operation Silent Nights.

But Folkman feels more patrols are needed just to stop every day speeding as well, let alone racing.  

“All of us kid that if they set up a speed trap, they could make up their numbers for a year in just one week,” Folkman said.

Folkman also feels infrastructure changes are needed at the intersection to help deal with the increase in traffic in the area.

Spectrum Bay News 9 reached out to both the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County to see if any traffic studies are in the works there. Officials said there currently aren’t however that can always change. If the city decided changes were needed, they’d work with the county to make the fixes.

“This really needs to get looked at before things get worse,” Folkman said.