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Bruce B. Downs Tops List Of Frequent Crash Sites

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By GEORGE WILKENS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2007

NEW TAMPA - Bruce B. Downs, Hillsborough County's longtime public works official credited with contributing greatly to development of the area's transportation network before his 1983 death, would likely be distressed to see his namesake road atop the Tampa Police Department's 'High Crash Locations' list.

More often than not, the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard junction with Interstate 75 occupies the top spot on the list, which ranks sites based upon the number of vehicle crashes reported to Tampa police during the previous 90 days.

Occasionally, the Hillsborough-Himes avenues intersection briefly occupies the top spot, a short hop from its usual runner-up position, random checks during the past 45 days show.

However, other Bruce B. Downs intersections routinely rank high on the expanded list, which covers the top 100 sites. The Bruce B. Downs intersections with Highwoods Preserve Parkway and New Tampa Boulevard, for example, were ranked 16 and 21, respectively, on Tuesday's list.

The fact that the Bruce B. Downs/I-75 junction is usually king of the heap for vehicle accidents reported within the city limits does not surprise veteran traffic engineer Mike Scanlon.

'That's where the backup on Bruce B. Downs starts, right there at that interchange. At the peak, it ripples all the way back almost to Cross Creek,' Scanlon said.

'There's a lot of bobbing and weaving: people in line, out of line, trying to get into line. They're trying to cheat on Bruce B. Downs and run all the way up in the right-hand lane.

'Then they shoot over at the last minute and cut somebody off. That probably causes a fair portion of it.'

Tampa police Cpl. Jared Douds of the agency's District 2 office, whose officers patrol New Tampa, concurred.

'Mostly rear-enders, that's the vast majority of them,' Douds said of collisions at the I-75/Bruce B. Downs junction. 'Speed is usually not a factor in the vast majority of them, also.'

He, too, sees conditions at the junction ideal for collisions. 'You've got a huge amount of traffic in that area and a lot of distracted driving, people stopping short, not giving themselves enough space,' Douds said. Morning and evening rush hours, of course, are the worst, he said.

Traffic law enforcer and traffic engineer alike agree the flyover ramp to allow southbound Bruce B. Downs traffic to access southbound I-75 without stopping will bring big improvements to that busiest stretch of Bruce B. Downs, which averages 56,000 vehicles daily, according to Hillsborough County's monthly road reports.

The $41 million Florida Department of Transportation project begun six months ago to improve the flow of traffic at the busy junction will be a big improvement, said Scanlon and Douds.

'Once that gets up and running, it will get that traffic flowing a little better,' Douds said. Improved traffic flow will reduce stop-and-go driving and reduce rear-enders and other collisions, he said.

Added Scanlon: 'I'm sure as soon as the DOT finishes that flyover, you will never see that intersection on the high-accident location list again. That will entirely go away; all the conflicts are going to go away.'

Construction is expected to take 18 more months.

Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said the department's crash location list is based upon traffic accidents reported to the department during the previous 90 days. Therefore, actual totals could be higher. 'If someone has a fender bender and they merely exchange information, that's not something we would know about,' she said.

The rolling count updated minutes after 8 a.m. daily is accessible through the department's Web site, tampagov.net/dept_Police/index.asp. Click on 'Information Resources' on the top left corner then under the 'Crime Statistics Information' header, click on 'High Traffic Crash Locations.'

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4847 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.

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