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Boulevard widening will skirt bike path
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer NEW TAMPA -- Runners, bikers, bladers and walkers, don't worry. The current widening of Bruce B. Downs won't affect the recreational path running along the east side of the boulevard. The new lane, which will run northbound from Interstate 75 to Richmond Place Drive, will be built over what is now a grassy median. "We're not going any closer to the bike path," said Marian Pscion, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation's Tampa office. The $1.6-million, 10-foot-wide bike path -- known officially as the Bruce B. Downs Multi-Use Trail -- links up Tampa Palms, Hunter's Green and Flatwoods Wilderness Park. The $2.8-million I-75 construction project, which will also add a second exit lane from the interstate, began on Feb. 25 and is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. Initially construction crews had set up their trucks and equipment along the road in such a manner that some residents were unsure where they planned to break ground. "At first there was no evidence of what was going on," said Cindy Ham, president of the Richmond Place homeowners association. "We didn't know what they were doing." In the past week crews have begun plowing the inside of Bruce B. Downs' grass median and have installed a high yellow curb with safety reflectors to keep motorists on the roadway. Although Bruce B. Downs is a Hillsborough County road, the state Department of Transportation built the bike path as a way to help New Tampa residents get to Flatwoods Wilderness Park without driving. Pscion said planners were well aware of the path and had always planned to build the extra lane without disturbing it. -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
