A variety of suggestions - from speed tables to stop signs - are discussed as ways to slow lead-footed drivers.
By BILL COATS
Published September 26, 2003
LUTZ - Something has to change on County Line Road.
That's the somewhat fuzzy consensus as Hillsborough County officials consider the virtually unprecedented move of installing traffic-slowing measures along a busy commuter road.
The tables are a flatter version of the ubiquitous speed humps, which often appear on residential roads as an antidote to speeding and cut-through traffic.
But even though this stretch of County Line carries more than 7,100 vehicles a day, those who live near it are pushing to slow things down.
"If you do the speed limit, they ride on your bumper and give you obscene gestures," said Gaye Townsend, who has lived off County Line for 32 years and is president of the County Line Coalition. "I don't care what you have to do. Our board agrees: Slow 'em down."
Residents and commuters turned out Tuesday night for a public hearing on the stretch of road between N Dale Mabry Highway and U.S. 41. A traffic study two years ago showed that only 30 percent of the drivers were observing the 35 mph speed limit. And, with continued growth in Pasco County, conditions could easily grow worse.
Some neighbors recommended stop signs. Some recommended a turn signal at U.S. 41. A few expressed reservations about speed-control devices.
But Jim DeBolt, who lives on County Line, said, "I'll pay for the first speed table."
The attitude of the 40 people who attended was a notable contrast to a similar meeting two weeks ago, in which the county outlined its new traffic-calming program for so-called "collector roads." That meeting, concerning Carrollwood's Old Ehrlich Road, drew a parade of people blasting speed humps.
"There were like 50 or 60 people who kept saying, "No humps, no humps,"' said Angelo Rao, the consulting engineer who conducted both hearings.
The county's program doesn't envision traditional speed humps for collector roads. Rather, it suggests "flat-top" humps that slow vehicles to only 25 or 30 mph. But no solution devised for Old Ehrlich is likely to have any humps, Rao said.
On County Line, "I have an open slate," based on the Tuesday night comments, he said.
Rao said speed humps might not be appropriate for a long straightaway like County Line. But changes could include landscaped gateways or medians, which tend to slow drivers, he said. Rao hopes to present a plan in a follow-up meeting in late November.
Neighbors agreed the problem has worsened since the opening two years ago of Willow Bend Parkway, a Pasco County road that created a shortcut from Collier Parkway to U.S. 41 at County Line. That was when Townsend requested a traffic-calming study. Tuesday night, Pasco was second only to speeders as a target of complaints.
Neighbor Todd Mark asked whether Hillsborough County, which owns the road, would have to pay all costs of calming the traffic.
"Or," Mark continued, "would it be the generosity of Pasco County because they created the problem for us?"
- Staff writer Bill Coats can be reached at 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com
