A resident "credits' county commissioners with foresight in planning a functional community.
By ROBERT SAWALLESH
Published May 7, 2004
I love the narrow neighborhood streets as I drive through Valrico. I just hope, as I drive through the community, that two neighbors who live across from one another do not park their cars on the street, forcing me to navigate slowly so as not to scrape them.
Valrico has just entered the 21st century. Recently, the sidewalks on Miller Road were completed. What did our past county government leaders have against sidewalks? Surely, the new home construction companies fought for sidewalks for the safety of the new homeowners and their children. I thought all the Hillsborough County commissioners would be present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony with ice cream and cake when the Miller Road sidewalk project was finished.
My two favorite intersections in Valrico are Miller at Lumsden Road and Miller at Durant Road. Both have four-way stop signs. Some of the drivers who pass through these intersections must have entered a contest to see who can get through the most times without stopping or being seen by the deputy sheriffs. If I owned a fleet of wreckers, I would station a wrecker at each of these two intersections during rush hour.
Which new retail store in the Brandon/Valrico area has probably the finest traffic plan ever dreamed up? It is the new Wal-Mart next door to Home Depot on State Road 60. There are no traffic signals in front of Wal-Mart. When traveling east on SR 60, as many as 30 cars line up waiting to cross the westbound lane to get into Wal-Mart. There is a slight hill at the intersection, making it even more dangerous. Do Wal-Mart and Home Depot ever talk to each other about this traffic problem? This area could be a real mess for the fire and sheriff's departments.
How do you head east on SR 60 when you finish at Wal-Mart? You pretend you are a Home Depot shopper and drive through that parking lot so you can turn on 60, which has a traffic light at the corner of Home Depot. Home Depot and its hot dog concession should offer curb-side service for Wal-Mart customers.
I really do love Valrico, and I think the Hillsborough County commissioners who govern our land and people so well should have their $82,326 annual salaries raised by 10 percent due to inflation and increased gasoline prices.
