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Traffic report calls for crosswalks, bike lanes

The right-turn restriction at Old Orchard and Casey roads is still a source of debate amongresidents.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published April 7, 2006

County traffic calming engineer Angelo Rao has given county officials his final recommendations for controlling traffic in Carrollwood.

Rao's report, which can be viewed on the Hillsborough County Web site, includes 101 traffic calming devices for Original Carrollwood and 85 devices for the remainder of Carrollwood Village, in an area designated as "Sub Area II.'' The estimated costs are $510,750 for Original Carrollwood and $566,200 for Sub Area II.

Long-bothered by speeding cut-through traffic on their neighborhood streets, Carrollwood residents consulted the county for help. Enter the Neighborhood Traffic Calming program.

Traffic calming - narrowed streets, tighter intersections and additional medians to physically control traffic - is the county's solution and one that many in Carrollwood Village requested.

County officials approved traffic calming for Carrollwood Village's Sub Area I in January. Carrollwood Village Sub Area II is the remainder of the Village - the northeast section bordered by Ehrlich Road on the north, N Dale Mabry on the east, Gunn Highway on the southwest and Lynn Turner Road on the west. That area excludes Sub Area I, which encompasses parts of S Village Drive and Lowell and Casey roads.

Original Carrollwood is bordered by N Dale Mabry Highway on the west, Lake Carroll on the east, W Busch Boulevard on the south and portions of W Fletcher Avenue, Orange Grove Drive and Lake Ellen Drive.

Along with crosswalks, speed tables and bike lanes for the areas, Rao included a recommendation for the intersection of Old Orchard and Casey roads, which has become an area of angst for many.

A right-turn restriction sign at that intersection has pitted neighbor against neighbor for some months now.

Rao is recommending that the sign stay, but with different restrictions: "Monday to Friday, 7 to 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m., Buses Exempted."

Rao said he came to the decision after "completing a traffic engineering study and taking into consideration comments received from residents of Carrollwood Village."

But some residents say he wasn't listening.

"It is clear that the voice of the people has not been heard," said resident Lou Calle. "Ninety percent of the attending whom referred to the matter where against the restriction," he said about the numerous public hearings held on the topic. "This is ... clearly not a democracy."

Village resident Reza Mashayekhi doesn't think changing the hours is the correct solution. "A simple 'NO THRU TRAFFIC' sign, with or without limiting the hours would be logical to keep the nonresidents away from our neighborhood, while allowing the residents to get to their homes faster."

The restriction, which currently is in effect from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m., had the best intentions. County commissioners approved the rule as an amendment to the Sub Area I traffic calming plan in hopes of protecting Old Orchard Drive and other streets from cut-through traffic.

The aftermath left many residents with tickets for $120.50 for merely trying to get to their own houses, making the right turn regardless of the sign.

Those who obeyed the sign often make neighboring streets such as Water Oaks Lane, their main cut through. Still, some folks who attended the public hearings were pleased with the change, saying it did exactly what it was supposed to do - stop cut through traffic.

While county commissioners officially received Rao's recommendation Wednesday, the plan probably will not find its way onto a county agenda until late May or early June, according to Cheryl Stacks, manager of traffic calming programs for the county's Public Works Department.

Amber Mobley can be reached at 813 269-5311 or amobley@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 7, 2006, 08:18:09]