At one time during reconstruction on railroad crossings, all access to an apartment complex is blocked.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published September 11, 2003
ZEPHYRHILLS - Mark Stokes is as ready as anyone for easy access to his Greenmeadow home.
Stokes, 32, uses a wheelchair, and in the past he said he has gotten stuck trying to navigate the bumpy crossings of the CSX Railroad tracks in his motorized chair.
He's also tired of being trapped in his apartment while crews complete the work.
Access to Greenmeadow, a south side apartment complex, and the neighboring Meadowood subdivision has been plugged up for more than a week while railroad crews have worked to replace rails and repave crossings. For a few hours one afternoon last week, all three entry points - at 20th Street and C Avenue, 20th Street and Alston Avenue and at Tucker Road - were blocked.
"I've sat at home," Stokes said.
City officials fielded numerous calls from other angry residents.
"They weren't supposed to close all three streets," City Manager Steve Spina said.
To provide residents an alternate route, the city opened access across a grassy patch behind Krusen Field. Cars could cut through the CARES Zephyrhills Senior Center parking lot, across the field and out onto Alston Avenue.
But city officials were limited in how much they could help. Alston Avenue and Tucker Road are maintained by Pasco County. Only 20th Street is a city road.
Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX Railroad, said crews completed work at 20th Street and C Avenue late Wednesday. City workers followed, laying down fresh asphalt.
Expected to open today is 20th Street.
Sease said the company hoped to have Tucker Road reopened today or Friday, but work on Alston might push into next week.
"It should be very, very good access for people," Sease said. "We apologize for inconveniencing them over these last couple weeks."
Cleve Barker, who lives in Meadowood, said he and his neighbors worried about how a fire truck or ambulance would get in if there was an emergency.
"There were some irate people," Barker said. "It was wrong that they did that."
About a year from now, a new road into Meadowood and Greenmeadow should nullify any more clashes with the railroad.
Pasco County is set to begin work in April extending 20th Street to the U.S. 98 Bypass. The street now dead-ends at Tucker Road, site of the Zephyrhills Spring Water Co. property.
Jim Widman, the county's engineering services director, said that extension should be completed by next October. But the timetable is subject to change.
"We could bring things forward," Widman said.
- Molly Moorhead covers news about Zephyrhills. She can be reached at 352 521-5757 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 21. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com
