Without room to turn around, buses can't get to Oldsmar's Westminister Apartments. Transit officials hope the city will help.
By MEGAN SCOTT
Published July 18, 2003
OLDSMAR - The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority has hit a snag in a plan to provide bus service to the Westminster Apartments on Pine Avenue.
There is no place for the buses to turn around.
The turnaround on Pine Avenue is 70 feet in diameter. It needs to be about 80 feet to accommodate the 40-foot-long buses, said Roger Sweeney, executive director of the PSTA.
"We've asked for some assistance for the city to create maybe a turnaround for us," Sweeney said. "We're still waiting for a response on that."
The bus to Westminster wouldn't actually go into the development because of speed bumps and small children. It would stop on Pine Avenue, which dead ends at the Brooker Creek Preserve.
That's where the new Cypress Forest Park is located. There's a cul-de-sac there, but it's not big enough for the buses to turn around, said council member Janice Miller.
"We're looking at getting that widened," said Miller, who is on the PSTA board. "I'm confident that it will happen."
Miller received a letter from the Wilson Co. about having bus service for the residents. She, along with Suzanne Pfingsten, community manager for Westminster, presented the proposal at a recent PSTA meeting.
Chris Bowers, senior vice president for the Wilson Co., which oversees Westminster, said many of the residents at the complex have asked about bus service.
"We have a lot of residents who would ride it," Bowers said. "A lot of people are on fixed incomes. Having the bus service would be a real benefit to us."
The Wilson Co. built the 270-unit complex for residents with low to moderate incomes. It offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rent ranging from $509 to $697 a month. Residents must make between $21,000 and $30,000 a year, or 60 percent of Pinellas County's median income.
PSTA officials also are looking at providing bus service to the new Nielsen Media Research office complex. They are trying to create some data to determine where people are coming from and where they are going. The service would be a few trips in the morning and afternoon.
That bus route should be much easier than Westminster, he said.
"The Nielsen thing came from letters we received from employees who are now working in Dunedin and take the bus," Sweeney said. "Nielsen is a lot easier to serve than the apartment complex is."
Sweeney said bus service to the new areas could still be a year off. Both Nielsen and Westminster would be serviced either by Bus No. 67 or a new route. Bus No. 67 runs mainly on Tampa Road and St. Petersburg Drive.
"Nielsen needs the service and so does Westminster," Miller said. "All the citizens in Oldsmar deserve transportation."
