Lane Ranger

Shipping channel puts Skyway in Hillsborough

You've heard the old saying about a man who went up a hill but came down a mountain? Well, here's the story of a man who went up the Sunshine Skyway but came down in Hillsborough County.

I'm sure you all remember the recent story about Robert "Butch" Ovens, a Bradenton man who drove his SUV off the Sunshine Skyway bridge. His car plunged into the water, and he was pulled to safety by his son, Hunter.

Aside from a cringe-inducing description of the incident, there's something curious about the Florida Highway Patrol's crash report.

Take a guess which county the accident occurred in. If you said Pinellas or Manatee, guess again. According to the report, the crash took place near St. Petersburg -- in Hillsborough County.

You heard me.

It's easy to forget, but the Skyway doesn't just connect Pinellas and Manatee counties.

"The main shipping channel of Tampa Bay is in Hillsborough County," said Sgt. R.B. Brannan of the Florida Highway Patrol. "Everything -- the skyway itself, the water beneath it."

Here's how county spokesman Steve Valdez explained it. Back when Pinellas and Hillsborough were one county, the main waterway into Tampa Bay was Hillsborough's alone. And when the Skyway went up, no one saw a problem with keeping it that way, since the Port Authority was in Tampa.

But when the Skyway was struck by a freighter in 1980, killing 35 people, Pinellas County emergency crews didn't have jurisdiction, so all medical help had to come from Tampa. The counties realized this could be a problem in the future.

A mutual agreement was struck for Pinellas County authorities to respond to any Skyway accidents, even though the majority of the bridge is now Hillsborough County territory.

You'll never see it on a map of Hillsborough County, but the Skyway is a part of southern Hillsborough County.

That's where Ovens drove into the water; thus, at least in a technical sense, his wreck occurred near South Shore.

IF YOU'VE BOOKMARKED TBInterstates.com as one of your favorite Web pages -- and who hasn't? -- you're behind the times.

TBInterstates.com is a Web site organized by the Department of Transportation to let drivers know what construction projects are taking place on Interstates 4, 75 and 275, among others. The site has construction dates, lane closures and other useful tidbits of information.

Recently, the DOT decided to shorten the site's address from TBInterstates.com to MyTBI.com, saving you, the commuter, eight keystrokes.

The original URL still works, but the new address -- a play on MyFlorida.com -- is now being touted on road signs in construction areas.

"We made the address short so people can remember it when they get to their office," said DOT spokesman John McShaffrey.

A Web site address that's much shorter and easier to handle. Why can't all the DOT's projects be like this?

POLICE ACCIDENT REPORTS tell you a lot, but they don't always tell you all you want to know.

Case in point: This week's Axie recipient, a Ruskin woman who rear-ended another car in Sun City Center because, in the words of the crash report, "she was watching the person in the median mowing the grass."

Personally, I think driving through Sun City Center is more exciting than watching grass grow. Likewise, I believe it's more exciting than watching grass get cut.

Thus, I can only wonder what made this Lawnmower Man appear so fascinating to passers-by. I've come up with a few theories:

1. He was mowing naked.

2. His lawn mower was built from discarded airplane and stock car parts. And he was naked.

3. He bore a striking resemblance to Edward Scissorhands.

We may never know what really took place. In the future, let's hope law enforcement officials find out why the grass is greener in the median.

-- Times Staff writer Kevin Graham contributed to this report. The Lane Ranger is currently stuck in traffic. But he can be reached at 661-2426 or at cridlin@sptimes.com .