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Cold Snap Delivers Crop Of Sinkholes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2009

Blame it on the strawberries.

The recent cold snap that had Plant City farmers pumping groundwater to spray on their berries has caused a rash of sinkholes: on Whitelaw Road, Moore Lake Road, Gallagher Road, Sydney Road, Lone Oak Road and Drawdy Road.

"Whenever you have a drought and a quick withdrawal of groundwater ... it causes a drop in the groundwater level," Hillsborough County Public Works spokesman Steve Valdez said. "That creates voids."

County officials have closed the two-lane roads and can't say when they will reopen until it's determined the roads have stopped sinking. At this point, workers are removing the asphalt to take a look.

They will fill the voids with sand to see if it sinks into the ground. If the void is stable, the sand will stay in place and work crews can fill the hole and pave it over.

If the sand sinks, they will have to wait until it stabilizes. "We don't even know if they've stopped sinking," Valdez said.

Sinking Schedule?

Speaking of sinkholes, the depressions are threatening to delay utility work related to the new Strawberry Crest High School under construction at Newsome and McIntosh roads.

Workers are laying pipe on Gallagher from Newsome to Sydney Road, a four-mile span.

Valdez says crews are making good progress but might have to hit the brakes near Sydney because of a sinkhole there. Workers have yet to investigate the size of the hole, which could be much larger than it appears on the surface.

"We'll have to wait and see whatever is down there," Valdez said.

Workers have until April 10 to complete the force-main project. Motorists, meanwhile, are being asked to watch for flagmen on Gallagher. One of the road's two lanes will be closed during construction.

Hey, (Water) Taxi

A group of downtown planners and architects called the Urban Charrette has completed a $10,000 study into the feasibility of water taxis plying the Hillsborough River and Garrison Channel behind the new Tampa Bay History Center.

The group will present its findings to the Tampa Downtown Partnership, which commissioned the study, at a breakfast meeting from 8 to 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, 111 W. Fortune St. (adjacent to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) The public can attend for $25 ($20 for partnership members).
Water taxis once roamed the tea-colored river and a couple of reserve-ahead services still offer rides to the public. The last of the taxis ceased 15 years ago after its owner died, Kress said.

Among other things, the study will examine the idea of the city or an authority owning the docks but having a private operator run the service.

Bottleneck Worries

David Lubin of Tampa recently asked whether the ongoing construction on Interstate -275 will result in a four-lane highway on each side or the current, bottleneck-inducing three each.

Department of Transportation spokesman John McShaffrey said the road will be four lanes in each direction between Himes and Armenia avenues. A fifth lane will be added northbound between Howard Avenue and the Hillsborough River.

Subsequent phases will leave some sections four lanes and others five lanes near major interchanges, such as State Road 60.

Got a traffic gripe? Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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