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Are Tampa's New Lighted Signs Bright Idea For Super Bowl?

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 25, 2008

Out-of-state football fans will get help leaving next year's Super Bowl in the form of lighted street signs.

Tampa signed a $250,000 deal to install the signs at 24 intersections, a third of them only a couple of miles from Raymond James Stadium, site of the Super Bowl.

Several are planned along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., including at Himes Avenue directly in front of Raymond James Stadium, as well as down the road at MacDill, Habana, Armenia, Highland and Central avenues - essentially between the stadium and Interstate 275.

Public Works director Irvin Lee says the low-energy signs have nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

Councilman John Dingfelder isn't so sure. The signs caused a brief stir last month when Dingfelder asked whether they really are needed at a time when the city is debating layoffs.

"If they're for the Super Bowl, then they should just say that," he said later.

Lee says they're part of a 15-year safety initiative. Of the city's 560 major intersections, 140 have the signs now. Of the new ones going up, most will not be installed near the stadium.

"Between the streetlights and businesses, driving at night, there is so much competing for your attention that it's hard to see those little green-and-white street signs," Lee said. "We want to give folks a fighting chance to see them."

Pasco To Hear Widening Plan

U.S. 19 eventually will be widened in Pasco County, even though the state Department of Transportation doesn't have the money to pay for it.

Don't let that stop you from glimpsing the department's latest plans for U.S. 19. An open house is set for 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at 4035 Madison St., New Port Richey.

The 20-mile project between Pinellas and Hernando counties calls for six lanes at ground level and six lanes above ground. Part of the upper lanes will extend over the lower inside lanes.

North Boulevard Open

Commuters leaving downtown again have another northbound route: North Boulevard.

The road quietly reopened after being closed a few months to allow a bridge to be built at Interstate 275. After several weeks of rain delays it reopened about a week ago.

Labor Day Travel To Decline

AAA says it expects more people will stay home this Labor Day weekend, despite a drop in gas prices.

Nationwide, 34.4 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more this weekend. That's 1.1 percent fewer than last year. In Florida, 1.9 million will travel, about 0.6 percent fewer.

Although gas prices are down recently, they're still $1 a gallon higher than this time last year, AAA said.

What About The Rest Of Gunn?

Abby Smith of Odessa recently asked about the widening of Gunn Highway, between South Mobley Road and Sickles High School.

County spokesman Steve Valdez said most of the project is complete. The widening south of and in front of Sickles High was finished just before the school year started.

The rest of Gunn - from Beaty Grove Drive, just north of Sickles, to Keystone Crossing Boulevard, just north of Mobley - will be finished next spring.

Got a traffic gripe? Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at rshopes@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7633.

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