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RON MATUSAs an estimated 500,000 visitors flock to MacDill for the event, South Tampa residents and businesses feel the pain.
Dinah Bencomo figured there might be a little bit of a traffic hassle last weekend, during AirFest at MacDill Air Force Base. But the hassle morphed into a monumental snarl.
The stretch of Dale Mabry Highway in front of her salon, Impressions of Dinah, became one, long, linear parking lot on Saturday.
Motorists had enough time to get out and use portable toilets set up along the street.
Some walked their dogs.
Bencomo lost hundreds of dollars in business because several customers couldn't make their appointments.
"There was nothing for them to do but turn around and go back," she said.
The first AirFest in three years was wildly successful, drawing an estimated 500,000 people over two days. But it also annoyed residents, businesses and motorists alike, stranding some for hours on Dale Mabry and Gandy Boulevard.
On Tuesday, the Interbay Peninsula Partnership, a south-of-Gandy civic group, formed a committee to research ways to reduce gridlock during future AirFests.
"It's only one or two days a year," said partnership president Robert Rowen, "but I know there were some people that were really frustrated."
Rowen said his business, Nuance Galleries, was affected - and it's only eight blocks south of Kennedy Boulevard.
MacDill officials blamed part of the bottleneck on special circumstances.
It was the first AirFest since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, so security was tighter than usual. Beyond that, one of MacDill's four entrance gates - the Port Tampa gate - was closed for repairs, and the Bayshore Boulevard gate was dedicated solely to vendors and emergency vehicles, said Tony Rodriguez, the base's traffic engineer.
Geography also played a role.
Even with all four gates open, "there's just no good way of getting them in and getting them out," Rodriguez said.
Partnership members discussed the possibility of increasing bicycle access and using HARTline buses as shuttles, perhaps running from park-and-ride lots downtown to MacDill's Bayshore gate. HARTline buses have been used as shuttles for other big events, including football games at Raymond James Stadium and the Florida State Fair.
But HARTline officials were pessimistic.
At its peak performance, HARTline ferried 9,000 people back and forth to the fair one day, said spokesman Ed Crawford. That wouldn't put a dent into AirFest.
"Do the math," Crawford said.
- Ron Matus can be reached at 226-3405 or matus@sptimes.com