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Time to sound off on Floral City bypass ideas
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer FLORAL CITY -- The maps at the Floral City public library show three ideas for bypassing downtown with a wider U.S. 41, a concept county Commissioner Jim Fowler pitched at a workshop this month as a way of expanding the highway and preserving Floral City's small-town feel. Now, it is the residents' turn to weigh in. The maps will be on display at the library for the next month or so, with a stack of comment cards that residents can use to register their support, concerns or opposition to the bypass idea. The library is on Orange Avenue one block east of U.S. 41. "We would really appreciate it if everybody looks at that map, and if they have a suggestion or a comment, that they please fill out a comment card," said Marcia Beasley, a member of the Floral City Heritage Council. The state Department of Transportation has no immediate plans to widen U.S. 41 through Floral City. It shelved its four-laning plans for the roadway several years ago after the community complained the project would destroy its century-old oaks and small-town charm. Fowler's bypass ideas have generated other concerns, however. The issues raised by the Floral City Heritage Council include: All three options would require significant widening to the west end of Orange Avenue, a narrow, tree-lined residential area west of the traffic signal. Heritage Council members believe removal of the trees and some houses would lead to commercialization of the entire block. All three options call for bypassing downtown, a plan that Heritage Council members feel would be detrimental to the town. They believe the bypass would create a new commercial corridor with chain stores, car lots and commercial sprawl that would hurt the old business district. They are also concerned that a bypass could turn the area west of the traffic signal into a commercial area. Two of the three options would feed traffic to a proposed industrial park south of the Inverness Regional Airport, which is slated for expansion. Heritage Council members fear such a bypass would route more traffic through Floral City to reach Interstate 75. Beasley said the bypass idea isn't the only option. In a recent community survey, many residents supported widening U.S. 41 southbound to create a protected left-turn lane onto Orange Avenue. The Floral City Heritage Council also has hired a professional community planner, Ian Lockwood, to visit the town June 12 and determine if there is a viable alternative to a four-lane intersection. -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com.
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