Less than a month after holding a series of educational meetings in Brandon, Keystone, Ruskin and New Tampa, the architects of a proposed countywide network of truck routes now say that their recommendation to make Morris Bridge Road a part of that system was premature.
The plan would have affected the two-lane road, from Interstate 75 to the Hillsborough-Pasco County line.
At the time the plan was announced, county officials said allowing trucks onto Morris Bridge would reduce the volume of truck traffic on residential streets. Truckers and residents were baffled, saying the road is too narrow to handle the additional truck volume.
In a memo this month, the head of the county's department of public works sided with the truckers and residents.
Structurally, Morris Bridge Road is not reliable, Robert Gordon wrote. It would endure more wear and tear with additional trucks and result in higher maintenance costs for the county, he said.
Furthermore, Morris Bridge does not have adequate shoulders for emergency truck parking.
Bill McCall, a project manager with the county's planning and growth management division, said the county will not consider making Morris Bridge Road part of its network "unless its vastly improved."
