The state, which is building the Memorial Highway interchange, says it would cost a million dollars to build a sound wall that would benefit only about 30 homeowners.
By JACKIE RIPLEY
Published May 2, 2003
TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Motorists in the vicinity of Tampa International Airport, Memorial Highway and Courtney Campbell Parkway will soon have relief from traffic congestion and confusing road configurations thanks to planned road improvements.
But homeowners in nearby Dana Shores will not get the relief they had wanted: a sound wall buffering the noise those vehicles make.
"Since 1999 they've been telling us there would be a sound wall," said Adam Smith, president of the Dana Shores Civic Association. "We were fine and happy with that. But then it was reduced in height, then reduced again and then no sound wall at all."
The state Department of Transportation, in a $170-million makeover, is creating an interchange at Memorial Highway. Work begins in 2004 and is expected to last for about four years.
The result will be an elevated Courtney Campbell running parallel to Dana Shores. A greater number of vehicles should be able to use the road, and homeowners say the combined result will be a much louder neighborhood.
"We have noise now," said Bea Sinicrope who lives in Dana Shores. "The noise from an elevated road will only be louder."
The multilayered interchange will replace stoplights at the intersection of Memorial and the Courtney Campbell.
To the south, the interchange at the entrance to and exit from Tampa International Airport will be arranged to decrease the amount of lane-changing that motorists encounter in this area.
That part of the plan is set in stone. Not so, however, for a sound wall that Dana Shores homeowners say was promised to them by the DOT.
"There had always been a commitment to evaluate" the need for a sound wall," said Ron Glass, the DOT's design project manager. "But we never promised a sound wall."
The DOT conducted two studies and came up with the same findings each time. It would cost more than $1-million to build a sound wall that would help only about 30 homeowners.
"Not a prudent use of tax dollars," Glass said.
Glass also said some homeowners told the DOT they did not want their view blocked by a barrier.
"It's not a clear-ut case of building a wall and getting a benefit," he said.
A landscaped berm has replaced the wall in the DOT's plans as well as other amenities such as a bicycle trail. "It's a bit of a tradeoff," Glass said.
Landscaping, however, will not cut it for the 330 homeowners who make up the Dana Shores subdivision, where a majority want a barrier.
"We did a survey last year and 80 to 90 percent wanted a sound wall," Smith said. "The Courtney Campbell will be elevated and that will block your view. A sound wall won't block any more than the road itself."
Residents are not giving up. "The only way to go now is the political road," Smith said. "It's the same tried and true strategy. Call you state senator, your state representative and your county commissioner."
