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Letter to the editor

Study puts forth area street improvements

Core improvements would cost $5-million and include realigning the intersection of Ehrlich Road and Gunn Highway, among other things.

By JOSH ZIMMER
Published May 1, 2005

CITRUS PARK - County officials are inching closer to a redesign of the road system in Citrus Park.

Preliminary results of a $900,000 study recommend realigning the intersection of Ehrlich Road and Gunn Highway so that they are connected by two short turns instead of a sweeping curve.

Eventually, planners hope to add wider sidewalks, landscaped medians and on-street parking to slow traffic and create a town center feel. New plans would extend the improvements another 2,000 feet to Sheldon Road.

The core improvements would cost $5-million, money the County Commission hasn't yet allotted. Finding the money to implement changes in the Citrus Park Community Plan, along with other community plans throughout Hillsborough, is one of the challenges officials face after choosing to give residents a larger voice in local development issues.

Only time and the real estate market will determine whether Citrus Park will attract retail stores and homes, as the plan also recommends.

The study could be completed by the end of this year, said Jeffrey Siewert, an engineer with Bayside Engineering, the firm hired by the county to conduct the study.

Not only do vehicles move fast through Citrus Park, but there are a lot of them. According to traffic figures, 14,400 vehicles a day travel Gunn Highway between Ehrlich and Citrus Park Boulevard while 14,900 vehicles a day drive Ehrlich between Gunn and Sheldon.

Since 2003, there have been 87 accidents around the intersection, including 24 with serious injuries, Sheriff's Office records show. None of the crashes were fatal.

Drivers currently head east toward Gunn along a sweeping curve that does little to discourage slow driving, Siewert said.

Instead, planners now propose transforming that short section into a two-way street with a traffic light at Ehrlich. The north-south section that connects Gunn to Ehrlich near Ballyhoo's restaurant would be eliminated.

Designers say the wider sidewalks and on-street parking would energize storefront shops for a village feel not unlike parts of South Tampa. Traffic lanes would be narrower to slow traffic.

With its landscaped medians, Ehrlich would become a more inviting gateway into Citrus Park from the Veterans Expressway to the east and Sickles High School on the west.

Citrus Park residents had their first glimpse of the new design in late-March. Gouldman said no date has been set for a followup presentation.

- Josh Zimmer covers county commission and the communities of Citrus Park, Keystone and Odessa. He can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 30, 2005, 04:00:06]