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Upgrades To Busch May Be Bad For Business

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By LAURA KINSLER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 29, 2007

NORTH TAMPA - The new and improved, more attractive Busch Boulevard may be bad for business, property owners fear.

The Florida Department of Transportation last week unveiled the final design for the boulevard's $12.5 million repaving project.

A portion of the budget will give the unattractive boulevard an extreme makeover, with crepe myrtles, date palms and lots of purple, yellow and white flowers. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring.

The bulk of the project dollars will go to repave the six-lane road and bring it up to modern safety standards. Those standards involve closing or changing more than 30 intersections.

Motorists won't be able to make left turns into dozens of driveways.

'It's definitely going to affect my business,' said Alex Chong, who owns a strip mall just east of 48th Street. The center has 14 storefronts and 22 offices, and both driveways would be cut off from westbound traffic because of the new medians. Customers would have drive another block and make a U-turn to access the parking lot.

'One of my customers really depends on people coming from Temple Terrace,' Chong said.
Temple Terrace and New Tampa motorists also will find they no longer can make left turns into Sonny's, Red Lobster or Olive Garden. Eastbound drivers won't be able to turn into left into Jon's Bridal, BP or Sensuous Sound Systems.

Project designer John Novak said that over time, drivers will adjust to the new Busch Boulevard and learn to make the necessary U-turns.

'The closing of the medians will improve safety and traffic flow because you'll have fewer people stopping to make turns,' Novak said.

Terry Neal, president of the Temple Crest Civic Association, worries that the median closures will funnel more traffic onto residential streets.

'I'm concerned about people turning into the neighborhoods to reach businesses on Busch,' he said.

Some of the elements from the beautification workshops, such as animal-shaped topiaries and decorative benches, did not make the cut. Still, business owner Linda Hudson says she's looking forward to the improvements, especially the landscaping. She already plants flowers in front of the family store, Healthy Home, and plans another beautification project - a water fountain.

'We're going to do ours, so you better do yours,' she told the FDOT staff.

The four-block segment in Temple Terrace will have more embellishments, including diamond-patterned sidewalks and decorative streetlights.

'Tampa did not come up with any money,' said Alan Steinbeck, a planner for the Metropolitan Planning Organization who spearheaded the beautification study.

'They're doing more in Temple Terrace because Temple Terrace came up with extra money.'

Tampa officials still haven't been able to secure an easement with CSX to build sidewalks between North Boulevard and 14th Street.

'Every week we are calling and asking them, 'What's the status?'' said project manager Jamal Nagamia.

LIMITING LEFT TURNS

Median openings will be closed on Busch Boulevard at Ninth Street, 11th Street, 16th Street, Elmer Street, 18th Street, 19th Street, 21st Street, Red Roof Inn, 27th Street, 29th Street, 33rd Street, Wick Place, Renfrew Place, 37th Street, Tangerine Place, Temple Avenue, Pawnee Avenue, Broadmoor, Big Lots, Palm Grove Apartments and 52nd Street.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

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