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Crystal Springs Gets Traffic Reprieve

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

CRYSTAL SPRINGS - State highway officials say they will reroute the bulk of State Road 39 truck traffic away from this rural enclave south of Zephyrhills - rather than through it - when work begins next year to replace an aging bridge over the Hillsborough River.
Design engineer Dwayne Kile, of the state Department of Transportation's Tampa office, said last week that his agency won't direct hundreds of trucks along Crystal Springs' narrow streets as residents had understood to be the plan.

Instead, the bulk of the nearly 2,000 trucks a day that travel S.R. 39 would be diverted before they can get on the two-lane highway linking Zephyrhills and Interstate 4, Kile said.

Signs at I-4 and at the U.S. 301-U.S. 98 junction north of Zephyrhills would tell truckers to avoid S.R. 39 during the months the bridge is removed and replaced, Kile said.
Truck traffic through Crystal Springs would be limited to two local companies - demolition specialists Cross Environmental Services and phosphate maker CF Industries, he said.

"The reality is whether the department would sign these roads for local traffic only, there is a high probability this route will be used by a number of truck drivers from these businesses instead of going down to I-4," Kile wrote in an e-mail.

The DOT recently announced its plan to replace the bridge that carries S.R. 39 over the swampy northern reaches of the Hillsborough River. The $5 million project is likely to start early next year, according to agency spokeswoman Kristen Carson.

The narrow timber bridge was built in 1947 and got a structural-integrity rating of 48 out of 100 after its last inspection in 2007. It carries 13,800 vehicles a day, about 14 percent of them tractor-trailers and other large trucks, according to DOT figures.

Residents are worried trucks using Crystal Springs Road will wreck the narrow bridge. While older than the S.R. 39 bridge, it's still sound enough for the job, Kile said.

The DOT met with residents earlier last week. Annette Noble, president of the community association, is trying to arrange another meeting in September to voice her neighbors' concerns about the project.

"The biggest thing for the people out here is we're tired of feeling like we're on the back burner," Noble said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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