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Streets and sidewalks

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 20, 2009

Two Hillsborough County road projects - one in Ybor City and the other along U.S. 92 between Eureka Springs and Thonotosassa roads in eastern Hillsborough - have people questioning the cost and need of the upgrades.

In Ybor City, workers uncovered miles of remarkably well-preserved red bricks when they prepared Fourth Avenue, pockmarked with cracks and potholes, for repaving. The discovery moved preservationists to try to restore the brick road rather than pave over it. The city of Tampa said no.

The city is right.

Meanwhile, along Highway 92, the state Department of Transportation is, along with road repair work, building miles of sidewalks and boardwalks that some east Hillsborough residents have complained will hardly be used. They believe the thoroughfares are a waste of money.

They are wrong.

It would be nice to restore the red bricks on Fourth Avenue. As the Tribune's Christian Wade reported, red-brick streets once lined Tampa's neighborhoods from Port Tampa to Palma Ceia, from Ybor City to West Tampa. Complemented by old oak trees that reached over their paths, the brick streets gave these neighborhoods a timeless charm, old-time residents say.

The brick roads date back to the early 1900s, when Tampa was emerging as the top cigar-making city in the country. The city maintains more than 50 miles of brick roads, most of them in Ybor.

But there are no regulations that prohibit the city from paving over brick, and at an estimated cost of $1 million to restore the Fourth Avenue bricks, the cost is prohibitive. At least the city now knows what's under the pavement, and in a better economy restoration might make sense.

The Highway 92 sidewalks are part of a $28 million highway project and are projected to cost about $4 million. That may sound like a lot, but the money is budgeted, and the paths are needed for safety's sake. School children walk along the highway to and from school, and with two more schools coming on line this year, there will be more. This community is notoriously dangerous for pedestrians.

Both projects should proceed as planned.

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