Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
BRADY DENNISResidents applaud the latest ideas from the state for reconstructing the weary, busy boulevard.
TAMPA - Finally, reason to smile.
Residents in communities along Gandy Boulevard on Monday saw a $20-million facelift of their weary, well-traveled road.
They liked what they saw, even if it was only computer images on poster board:
A raised, perfectly landscaped median. Decorative light poles with plant hangers. Fancy mast-arm traffic signals. Spiffy crosswalks. Dual left-turn lanes at busy intersections.
"It's great," said resident Eileen Malo, who lives just south of Gandy. "It's a lot better than I expected. I didn't expect we'd even get this much."
What remains a plan on paper is scheduled to become reality by 2006, thanks to $20-million in state funds.
State Department of Transportation officials and state Sen. Jim Sebesta held Monday's meeting at Robinson High School to show residents the design and garner their input.
"It's the ugliest boulevard in Florida, probably," said Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, who said he sketched improvement plans on a napkin in a Burger King last year. "When we're done, it's going to look good. We're going to make it look like a boulevard should look."
The meeting meant relief and satisfaction for many Gandy residents, who have spent years fighting almost inevitable expansion along the road.
Monday's mood was much more pleasant than at other recent Gandy meetings, mainly because of the subject.
The state originally had studied two proposals for a connector to speed commute times between Hillsborough and Pinellas counties: a four-lane elevated highway along the north side of the road, and a four-lane bypass to the south.
Neighbors vehemently protested and fought the proposal. That, combined with the project's estimated $250-million to $300-million price tag, defeated the plan in late 2002.
That moral victory made Monday's meeting sweet to the 70 or so residents who attended.
"It's excellent," said Rene Crespo, of the Gandy Civic Association. "It's about time we have a picture. If it were done tomorrow, I'd be tickled pink."
It won't be finished tomorrow, but Monday state officials promised it will get finished.
Crespo and scores of other Gandy residents who are active in preserving their community know that other battles lie ahead.
The possibility remains that officials might one day try to build an elevated highway right down the middle of the boulevard to link the Gandy Bridge and the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
The thought looms like a dark cloud over Gandy residents. And even as they smiled and celebrated Monday, they already were thinking ahead.
"If we plant 30-foot oak trees (in the new median)," said resident Gene Wells, "we'll never have to worry about an overhead highway."