Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Traffic issue jams Bay Arbor Place vote

Neighbors want a traffic light near the complex. But it looks like the state will say no.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published January 19, 2006

OLDSMAR - The City Council postponed voting on a site plan for Bay Arbor Place this week after residents complained about the increased traffic the mixed-use development would bring.

Residents who packed council chambers Tuesday night stressed that they're not opposed to the stores, restaurants and offices planned for the site.

They just want a light to help with traffic flow at Bay Arbor Boulevard and Tampa Road.

The council listened to residents and urged them to take their request to the state Department of Transportation. The council now plans to take up the issue next month so residents have time to meet with DOT officials.

"We like the development," homeowners association president Doug Bevis said. "We like the way it looks, we like the aesthetics of it. We just want to make it work."

The Bay Arbor Place plan calls for a 66,418-square-foot mixed-use development on 8.17 acres on the former Cox Lumber site.

In July, the City Council approved conditional use to have up to 19,488 square feet of restaurant space as long as a traffic study was completed.

The development plan has entrances on Tampa Road and on Bay Arbor Boulevard.

Residents said they already have a hard time using the community's only entrance on Tampa Road, where 50,000 vehicles travel per day. They also cited safety as a big concern because children wait at the busy intersection for the school bus.

Tuesday, the city staff recommended approval of the site plan as long as developers agree to study the actual traffic impact within the first six months of opening. The current traffic study says the project would not make traffic any worse on Tampa Road.

However, the residents' efforts could be for naught, as DOT spokeswoman Kris Carson said the agency won't agree to put a traffic light at the intersection. Some of the factors looked at when justifying a traffic signal include traffic counts, pedestrian volume, other signals in the area and crash data, Carson said.

She said the intersection is too close to the signal at Forest Lakes Boulevard. Based on that and the traffic study done by the engineering firm on the project, TBE Group, Carson said, a traffic signal isn't warranted.

"There's a misconception that if we put in a signal, it just solves every traffic problem," she said. "When traffic signals are put in, typically the number of rear-end accidents increase."

Still, Carson said DOT representatives will be happy to meet with residents.

Meanwhile, Bevis said residents have met with the School Board to try to get it to let buses enter the community to pick up the children. He said it seems like lives have to be lost at an intersection for a light to be put in.

"As is always the case, it seems like the (DOT) is always the biggest hurdle to climb," Bevis said. "They always seem to be reactive instead of proactive."

[Last modified January 19, 2006, 01:48:21]