Dale Mabry Highway backs up as deputies direct traffic at the church's new sanctuary. But neighbors say it could have been worse.
By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2005
LUTZ - Idlewild Baptist Church's first services in Lutz were a decidely mixed blessing to the area's drivers. The 9,200-member church says managing its traffic will be a work in progress.
"Thou shall adjust," said Ken Smith, Idlewild's minister for administration, citing the 11th commandment of his parking planners.
Crawling cars filled the church's milelong Exciting Idlewild Boulevard on arrival and departure from the final service Sunday. Traffic approaching Idlewild from N Dale Mabry Highway backed up as much as a mile, at times blocking a northbound lane of the highway.
"I never would have thought you could queue that thing up all the way to Dale Mabry," Smith said.
After the service, off-duty deputies closed all four lanes of Dale Mabry at regular intervals for more than a half hour to let worshipers turn left onto southbound lanes.
Each interruption caused Dale Mabry to quickly back up roughly a third of a mile in both directions.
Similar backups happened on Van Dyke Road, where Idlewild has a secondary entrance. In both cases, the jams cleared each time the deputies halted the Idlewild exodus.
Inside Idlewild's new 5,200-seat sanctuary, ministers delayed services. The 8:30 a.m. service started eight minutes late and the 10:30 service was more than 10 minutes late. Worshipers still were streaming into the 10:30 service at 10:50.
"For those of you who lost your religion coming in, we're glad you made it here," quipped Pastor Ken Whitten. "We hope you keep it on the way out."
Smith said Idlewild's parking planners, who have worked with crowds such as Disney World's, warned that the best plans change as soon as they're tried.
With that in mind, an Idlewild photographer recorded Sunday's traffic from the church's 75-foot-high roof.
Changes also are in store at the hands of Hillsborough County.
In coming weeks, the county plans to count Idlewild's traffic with an eye toward eventually installing speed tables or other traffic-slowing devices on the neighborhood roads east and southeast of the church.
Two weeks ago, county workers painted double yellow stripes on the length of Crenshaw Lake Road to outlaw passing there. Previously, passing was legal along as much as a fourth of the road's length.
County officials planned this week to lower the speed limit on Crystal Lake Road to 25 mph from 30 to 35 mph.
On those roads and others in the area, county crews planned to replace old or missing traffic signs and the raised reflectors in the center stripes.
"The brand new ones really light that thing up at night," said Pete Brett, the county's manager of traffic engineering.
"When we've put brand new ones in, people have actually called asking why we're wasting that electricity." Answer: They use reflection, not electricity.
A month ago, the county hosted a meeting in Lutz in connection with the speed-calming study, which will stretch into next year.
More than 200 people crowded into the Lutz Community Center, urging quicker action. Leaders of the Lutz Civic Association followed up with county officials later.
The new stripes, signs and reflectors are a result.
"This is one of the hot spots now," Brett said.
"We're certainly pleased that the county is giving it the level of attention it deserves," said Steve Polzin, the civic association's president.
Polzin, who also heads public transportation research at the University of South Florida, warned that major traffic changes can take months to sort out as drivers test different routes.
Tentatively, Tom Mead was pleased with Sunday's traffic. Mead and more than 100 neighbors on Geraci Road have urged the county - without results - to close Geraci to Idlewild traffic. Dozens of Idlewild drivers drove up Geraci on Sunday, but thousands didn't.
"Our worst fears did not come true," Mead said.
But the quiet, lakefront neighborhood still is worried, especially after seeing the backups of Idlewild worshipers trying to reach Dale Mabry, Mead said.
"The people that sat out there waiting 25 minutes to get on Dale Mabry may try to make an alternative exit on the coming Sundays."
