Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Retirees, others seeking traffic fix

Aston Gardens residents petition for a stop light or turn lane on Linebaugh Avenue.

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published January 23, 2005

WESTCHASE - Jack McCarthy moved to Aston Gardens, a retirement community just east of Westchase, to rid himself of daily chores like yard work, leaving more time to do what he wants.

If only traffic on Linebaugh Avenue would make it easier.

McCarthy, a 73-year-old retired Army colonel, still likes to take his Toyota sport utility vehicle - "the old person's model," he calls it - to Publix, a movie or to a restaurant with his girlfriend. He also has to get to the occasional doctor's appointment.

But entering and leaving the 450-resident neighborhood can be an exasperating, often nerve-racking, experience. Linebaugh is two lanes outside Aston Gardens, and cars zoom by much faster than the 45 mph posted speed limit.

A cautious senior might spend 20 minutes waiting for a traffic break to get out, and turning in with a vehicle quickly growing closer in the rearview mirror can increase his or her pulse.

"We would like a stop (light) or a turn lane," McCarthy said. "If you start getting more density, with trucks and that, it's going to be a high disaster."

More than 200 people living at Aston Gardens, where the average age is 80, signed a petition asking for such relief, general manager Beverly Benjamin said.

"Probably half still have their cars," Benjamin said. "Their reflexes are not as quick. They get nervous. ... You just dread that day when something happens."

It's not just a concern of the seniors who rent or own the Aston Gardens villas and apartments. The community has more than 100 employees, and visitors frequent the community.

"We're trying to make it a safer environment for them," Benjamin said. "We've even offered to pay. ... But it's very hard to get projects on the books."

Improvements to Linebaugh that far east are not scheduled. That area does not rate among the county's major accident zones, either, according to Sheriff's Office traffic reports.

Calls to the county Public Works department were not returned.

Benjamin said she has had trouble figuring out exactly who in government, whether local or state, is the right person to handle Aston Gardens' concerns. Several calls over almost three years have gotten little response, she said.

Still, no one is giving up, as traffic only seems to worsen on Linebaugh where it narrows to two lanes on the way to Race Track Road.

"I'm going to get this resolved," Benjamin said.

McCarthy said he thought most of his neighbors would agree that the effort is worthwhile.

"We're talking about an individual's life," he said. "If you're going to go shopping at all, it's like going out to fight the battle on that main street. Even on weekends."

- Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at 813 269-5304 or solochek@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 23, 2005, 00:14:21]