Neighborhood report
Virginia Park: 'Barren' street may bloom in medians
An improvement plan to dress up Bay to Bay Boulevard now needs consensus from business owners.
By RON MATUS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2003
John Weiss was at Bay To Bay Hardware one day when he took a long look at the stretch of Bay to Bay Boulevard between Lois and Manhattan avenues.
He wasn't impressed.
"It's stark, it's barren looking," said Weiss, president of the Virginia Park Residential Neighborhood Association. "It just looks like a big chunk of street."
Why couldn't it look more like E Davis Boulevard on Davis Islands, he wondered.
At Weiss' urging, a makeover might be on its way.
City transportation officials unveiled preliminary plans at an association meeting Tuesday to beautify the four-lane street, which is bordered by about a dozen businesses.
Association members voted 14-13 to install tree-covered medians between the east- and west-bound lanes where there are now blocks of yellow stripes. The dissenters favored a series of "bulb-outs" - circular islands of vegetation that jut out slightly into traffic from street corners.
"Either way will be better than what we got," said resident Vicky Ferraro.
The plan, which could cost $135,000 to $275,000, is far from a done deal.
City transportation officials must still get consensus from Bay to Bay business owners, who will likely offer a mixed reaction.
"It sounds great," said Josette Manougian, owner of Tampa Ballet Center, before Tuesday's presentation. "I hope they don't take two years to do it, though," and clutter up the area with construction.
Mike Pisarski, manager of Bay To Bay Hardware, had the opposite reaction, saying medians will be "more of a target than anything else, something for someone to run into."
More importantly, he said, they'll force his delivery trucks to park in the outside lane, where they'll likely tangle traffic.
"It's already bad," he said of the stretch. "I call it Bay to Bay Freeway."
No date has been set to present the plan to businesses or begin construction if the plan is approved, said William Porth, the city's neighborhood traffic coordinator.
Weiss said he hoped the improvements would also enhance the business district and make the area safer for pedestrians. Friendship Playground, a popular destination for families, is on the southeast corner of Bay to Bay and Lois.
Residents had competing suggestions for making the area safer, including widening sidewalks, lengthening parking spaces, creating four-way stops and putting a traffic signal at Bay to Bay and Lois.
"It is safer if we have a light . . . before we do anything to the street," said Angelo Montanaro.
The city will consider all those suggestions, but they aren't likely to be factored into the beautification design, Porth said.
- Ron Matus can be reached at 226-3405 or matus@sptimes.com
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