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Neighborhood report

Sidewalk problem fixed by elimination

Tree roots had broken the sidewalk along Nixon Road. County officials deemed it hazardous. So they removed it.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published October 2, 2005

CARROLLWOOD - Henry Gerdes can't figure it out.

With pedestrian deaths so prevalent in Florida, why would the government take away a sidewalk?

That's what happened along Nixon Road, between the Carrollwood Key townhomes and Plantation. Instead of replacing a sidewalk that was buckled and broken, the Hillsborough County government removed it and planted sod instead.

"Now there's nothing," said Gerdes, a Carrollwood Key homeowner who complains he has lost his "access to the outside world."

Officials at Cannella Elementary School weren't happy either. Schoolchildren routinely walked that sidewalk every day to the school, which sits about a block to the south.

But county officials say they did not have the $80,000 or more they would have needed to build a new sidewalk, and pine tree roots had damaged the old one.

"It was a public safety hazard," said John Newton, the county's director of transportation maintenance.

Tom Jones, community manager for the 1,832-home Plantation community, agreed. "Pine trees and sidewalks don't go together," Jones said. "(The sidewalk) was very dangerous and very uneven."

Because the circular Plantation has extensive footpaths inside, Jones said residents there did not mind losing the Nixon Road sidewalk. They preferred to protect the pine trees on Nixon, he said.

County officials followed Jones's recommendation, as he also is president of the Carrollwood Area Association of Neighbors.

"Hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have coordinated with (Carrollwood Key)," Newton said.

For now, the county is looking at several options.

One is to install a crosswalk and footbridge closer to the school to allow pedestrian traffic access to other sidewalks along Nixon. That job should be finished by Oct. 15, Newton said.

And Nixon Road could have new sidewalks in the future, said Newton.

"We're not going to close the door on it," Newton said. "We'll definitely look at it in 2006, but it may be 2007 before anything's done."

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 09:52:03]