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Construction Woes, Fears Dominate South Tampa Roads Meeting

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

TAMPA - State and local transportation officials got an earful from residents and business owners at a meeting today to help them sort through the maze of ongoing and future road projects in South Tampa.

Two topics quickly grabbed the spotlight: the monthslong construction on Gandy Boulevard and whether the Selmon Crosstown Expressway should be extended to the Gandy Bridge.

The extension idea has been floated several times in the past 20 years. Despite assurances the project will not move forward without support from homeowners and merchants, many of the 75 in attendance at the 90-minute meeting were skeptical.

The Gandy construction includes a 30-foot median that many residents think was designed to support an elevated road that they don't want.

"I think it's ridiculous," said Ellen Nimon of Regency Cove mobile home park. "We're senior citizens, not simple citizens."

Officials said the wide median is intended to allow for easy U-turns and the ability to widen the road if necessary.

Joe Waggoner, executive director of the expressway authority, said the authority agreed to study the extension idea or develop other toll options in South Tampa at the request of the city and the state transportation department a few months ago.

The 15-mile toll road now ends at the eastern edge of Dale Mabry Highway, two miles east of the Gandy Bridge. Building an extension would relieve some congestion on Gandy going to and coming from St. Petersburg and would help evacuate motorists during a hurricane.

Between 42,000 and 48,500 cars use the road daily, according to traffic counts in 2007.

Waggoner said no plans exist to build an elevated road.

At this point, the authority is trying to organize a 20- to 40-member project advisory group comprising elected officials, business leaders and residents.

It could be a year, he said, before the authority and community know enough about the effects and costs to make a decision. Five years ago, officials estimated an elevated structure on Gandy would cost about $250 million.

Residents were skeptical the expressway authority will listen to their concerns. Business owners, meanwhile, complained about the construction on Gandy, which started in January.

The construction has led to long delays at rush hour.

Usually, a throng of passing motorists is good for business, but restaurateur Jorge Tamargo said motorists are refusing to turn off at his restaurant because Gandy Boulevard is too congested at rush hour.

"They can't because they can't get back on the road," said Tamargo, who owns Mr. Empanada's, about two blocks east of West Shore Boulevard.

"From 4:30 and 6:30 from Manhattan [Avenue] to West Shore, you can get a sun tan because you're just sitting there."

The meeting today at the Jan K. Platt Regional Library was called by Mayor Pam Iorio.

Officials from the city, state Department of Transportation, Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority and Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization were on hand to answer questions.

Most of them involved the Gandy construction and whether the Selmon Crosstown Expressway will be extended to the Gandy Bridge.

Business owners argued that even when construction is finished in October 2009, sales will suffer because the 30-foot-wide median to stop motorists from turning left from the center lane.

Left turns will be allowed only at eight intersections. To get to Tamargo's business, eastbound drivers will need to make a U-turn at Trask Street and double back.

DOT officials said they will study the idea of creating additional cut-through points to help businesses but made no promises. Some of the suggestions already have been rejected as unsafe.

"If I had known they were going to do this, I wouldn't have opened here," Tamargo said.

Linda Bell, who owns Triage Consignment, a clothier and home furnishing store on Lois Avenue a block south of Gandy, said she has been affected by the construction as well but that the elevated road is more of a worry.

Her business depends on drive-by traffic. If an elevated road is constructed, the store would lose those drive-by customers, she said.

"I think it would be the end of me, and I've been around for 28 years, and I will be very vocal about it," she said. "I do not want to see that happen."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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