Residents lukewarm to plans for Gandy
A state proposal to exchange turn lanes for wide medians leads to questions about safety and the need for U-turns.
By SHERRI DAY
Published December 15, 2004
TAMPA - A proposal to replace center turn lanes with 30-foot-wide landscaped medians has turned many local residents against plans to overhaul Gandy Boulevard.
A group of state Department of Transportation officials presented their design proposal Tuesday night at a public hearing at Westshore Christian Church. Residents praised many of the project's design elements, but said the extended medians went too far.
"It'll look better, but it won't really help any of the traffic problems in the South Tampa area," said Ballast Point resident Ralph Lambert.
For Ellen Nimon, the new design presents safety issues because motorists will have to make U-turns to reach many businesses and homes along the street.
"We're senior citizens," said Nimon, homeowner association president at Regency Cove, a mobile home community abutting Gandy Boulevard. "We're not helpless, and we're not senile. But we don't have the agility that the youth do."
Adam Perez, the project's manager, said he would consider the public's concerns. But he touted the benefits of eliminating turn lanes.
"It's definitely a different pattern of traffic flow that they'll have to take," said Perez, who hopes to begin construction by summer 2006. "But we feel that it's definitely going to make it safer through the whole corridor."
Perez's proposal marks the latest development in a protracted battle over the future of Gandy Boulevard. In 2002, state transportation officials proposed the Gandy Connector, a four-lane elevated highway along the north side of the boulevard with a four-lane bypass to the south. Neighborhood groups opposed that project, arguing that it would bring noise and pollution too near their homes.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization, which plans long-term transportation projects in Hillsborough County, voted to kill the project in late 2002.
At the request of state Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, the state transportation department quickly began work on a more modest street improvement plan.
Last summer, the road's significance as an evacuation route from the coast was demonstrated as Pinellas residents fled hurricane winds. But local residents expressed fear that evacuation planning trumps their need to easily navigate busy roadways.
Initially, there was significant support for the scaled-down project. Planners recruited representatives from neighborhood groups to serve on an advisory board. But Tuesday night, some board members said their call to service was a farce.
"The reason for our existance was to validate the FDOT's wishes," said board member Anne O'Hara. "Everybody on the committee questioned the width of the median."
The proposed changes would affect about 2.4 miles of Gandy Boulevard from the entrance of the Gandy Bridge to Dale Mabry Highway, transportation officials said.
As part of the project, transportation officials would upgrade traffic and signal equipment. They also favor installing more inlets to capture stormwater and replacing some paved medians with soil.
At Dale Mabry Highway and Gandy Boulevard, motorists can expect the addition of a second left-turn lane in all four directions. Another left-turn lane is also slated for Manhattan Avenue.
Other suggestions include brick-lined crosswalks, pavement resurfacing and the creation of a trail west of Bridge Street that would join the Friendship Trail.
Some residents said the extended medians signaled that plans for an elevated highway along Gandy Boulevard are still alive.
"This is a snow job, guaranteed," said Carl Woodward, who owns an automotive repair business on the boulevard. "I'll put money on it. Five years down the road, they'll put it in."
Perez said his proposal does provide for future expansion of Gandy Boulevard. But he said he has no such plans now. And, at the moment, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority also does not intend to revisit the idea.
"It's not on the table now," said Expressway spokeswoman Beth Leytham. "From the Expressway's perspective right now, we are focused on the Crosstown Bridge."
Sherri Day can be reached at 813 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com