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Race Track Road to live up to name
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer
KEYSTONE -- From country fields to suburban hotbed. Northwest Hillsborough County is undergoing explosive growth, transforming the last vestiges of open spaces for businesses, schools and subdivisions. And nowhere is this trend more obvious than along Race Track Road, particularly as it heads north to Keystone. As with much of Florida, however, Race Track never grew to keep pace with development. That is about to change. With tens of millions of bond dollars, the county is putting forward a plan to widen the simple two-lane road. The finished product will be a landscaped thoroughfare with medians stretching from Hillsborough Avenue to S Mobley Road. "Remember, this was built with the standards for a little country road 40, 50 years ago, even more," county spokesman Steve Valdez said. "The development going on there is crazy." County staffers and their consultants will present the plan at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at a public meeting in the Alonso High School cafeteria. After presentation of the preliminary design and environmental report, staffers will answer questions. Work is scheduled to begin late next year and be completed before 2005, Valdez said. The estimated cost of the one-year project is $36.8-million, part of a $132-million, countywide infrastructure plan approved last year by the Hillsborough County Commission. The election-year plan, which will soak up most of Hillsborough's Community Investment Tax dollars for the next decade, also allots money for intersections, sidewalks and other roads. Along Race Track, the proposal calls for six lanes from Hillsborough Avenue to Linebaugh Avenue, which passes by Tampa Bay Downs. That route is traveled by 22,500 cars a day. Race Track will grow to four lanes from Linebaugh to Nine Eagles/Countryway Boulevard. The northernmost section, ending at S Mobley, will remain two lanes but undergo widening, Valdez said. An estimated 14,000 drivers use those second and third legs every day. Planners envision a friendlier road for more than just drivers. Race Track will gain bike lanes, sidewalks and bus bays. Businesses, among them developers, eagerly await the changes. Hundreds of homes are sprouting north and south of Nine Eagles/Countryway alone. "We certainly think it's a good thing," said Tom Spence, land development manager for Waterchase, a 700- to 800-home upscale subdivision. "The growth of all of Florida never can keep up with roads. So any time you get a road improvement, it's a good thing." The road redesign is favorable to Tampa Bay Downs, which for years has hired deputies to guide horse fans across Race Track from the western parking lot, spokeswoman Margo Flynn said. The new road will wind around the western edge, allowing people to avoid traffic. "Ultimately, I think it's going to be tremendous for the area," she said. -- Information from Times files was used in this story. Josh Zimmer covers Keystone, Citrus Park and the environment. He can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com.
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