Residents split on plan to widen Bruce B. Downs

A community meeting last week on the future of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard failed to produce consensus on whether to build six or eight lanes from Palm Springs Boulevard south to Bearss Avenue.

But residents let it be known that their vision for the road included light rail. And they want it as soon as possible.

"Mass transit by rail is the only solution," said Bill Edwards, president of the Tampa Palms Owners Association. "Using trolley buses only confuses the issue, and regular buses don't work" in New Tampa.

"We need to move to light rail as soon as possible. The six or eight lanes discussion is a red herring."

There is no guarantee, however, that there will be money for light rail, Hillsborough County officials said. And if a rapid transit system is approved, it would be 2018 at the earliest before the first phase would open in a yet-to-be identified part of the city.

Thomas Fass, a senior manager in the county's public works department, told residents the additional lanes are needed to ease traffic on one of the busiest four-lane roads in the county. The widening project would reduce many of the congestion issues.

"We can't widen the road enough to meet the needs of the future," but rapid transit, by itself, isn't going to accommodate future traffic demands either, Fass said.

In March the Hillsborough County Commission approved ballot language for a proposed transit sales-tax referendum. Commissioners are expected to take a second vote in late spring or early summer.

If it is approved, voters in November will be asked to increase the county's sales tax by one cent on each dollar to pay for local rail and an expanded bus system.

Meanwhile, construction is under way on a $42 million project to widen to eight lanes Bruce B. Downs from Palm Springs Boulevard to Pebble Creek Drive.

County officials scheduled last Thursday's meeting at Tampa Palms Elementary to seek residents' ideas on how to reconstruct the stretch known as Segment A, from Palm Springs Boulevard to Bearss Avenue.

The county commission has prioritized the southernmost part of the project as the next leg for construction to begin by summer 2011.

The gathering of roughly 200 people was split.

"Eight lanes have failed everywhere it's been used," resident Charles Hight said. "It may need six lanes, but to continue to widen the road is foolish."

The Tampa Palms resident said his view was based on experience as an architect and master planner who helped shape the master transportation plan in Charlotte, N.C., before he moved to Tampa.

Frank Ghadini, a longtime resident of Tampa Palms' Tremont village, offered an opposite perspective. He urged county engineers and Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Commission officials to stick with Segment A's original design plan, which included eight lanes.

"If you build six lanes, you are going to have to go back and build more," Ghadini said. "You will have to put people through (construction) twice. Why would you do that?"

Widening Bruce B. Downs to accommodate six lanes of traffic from Bearss north to Palm Springs would comply with the county's recently adopted long-range transportation plan.

Fass and MPO group leader Beth Alden said some turn lanes and side streets on Bruce B. Downs might have to be closed to accommodate eight lanes of traffic.

County officials have scheduled another "town hall meeting" at Chiles Elementary School, 16541 Tampa Palms Blvd. W., on April 19 to gather more feedback.

In the meantime, residents are urged to submit comments about the Segment A options on the county's Web site at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/transtaskforce/.