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Tampa to upgrade gateway; ethics vote postponed

By JANET ZINK
Published December 2, 2005

TAMPA - A major entry to downtown Tampa will soon get a makeover.

The City Council on Thursday approved a $770,000 contract to redesign Ashley Drive.

The council also postponed making controversial changes to a portion of the city's ethics code regarding accepting pricey gifts, and voted to launch a marketing campaign for Ybor City.

Eventually, the city plans to spend about $3.5-million to make Ashley Drive from Tyler Street to Kennedy Boulevard more attractive and pedestrian friendly.

"We want to upgrade the aesthetics so it fulfills its role as a downtown gateway," said Roy LaMotte, manager of the city's transportation division.

Design possibilities include narrowing the street from six to four lanes, adding brick crosswalks, planting more trees and installing decorative lighting.

The first step: Repaving.

That work will start in March and take about two weeks. The redesign of Ashley Street by HDR Engineering Inc., will take about 18 months. Construction will begin after that and take another 18 months, said LaMotte.

The road handles about 27,000 cars a day. HDR will need to figure out how to narrow the street but still allow traffic to flow smoothly.

The council voted 6-1 in favor of the contract with HDR, with Kevin White absent. John Dingfelder voted against the deal.

After the meeting, he said he opposed it because he wanted to delay the redesign until questions about the location of a new art museum had been resolved.

In other action, the council put off a decision on making changes to a section of the Tampa code of ethics dealing with expensive gifts, agreeing to postpone a vote until the city's ethics commission has a chance to review the policy.

The council will reconsider the issue in January.

The council did, however, agree on other changes to the ethics code. One change revises the definition of a lobbyist to exclude quasigovernmental agencies such as the Tampa Sports Authority, which in the past has given high-priced Buccaneers game tickets to council members and Hillsborough County commissioners.

The changes are scheduled for a public hearing Thursday.

The council also approved a $200,000 contract with Roberts Communications to devise an advertising campaign for Ybor City. Another $150,000 has been budgeted for advertising.

The campaign will target Bay-area residents and focus on shopping, dining and cultural activities, said Vince Pardo, manager of the Ybor City Development Corp.

"What happens after 11 o'clock gets enough press," he said.

[Last modified December 2, 2005, 01:13:14]