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Neighborhood Report

Retiree says reroute construction trucks

The S Pebble Beach Boulevard resident is unhappy with big rigs taking short cuts to the Renaissance development.

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published April 21, 2006

Gerald Ludwig just wants quiet, safe streets. That's why he decided to retire in Sun City Center.

But instead of tranquility, Ludwig, 70, is hearing tractors and semitrailers grinding through their gears past his house on S Pebble Beach Boulevard starting as early as 4:30 a.m.

The trucks are usually on their way to the Renaissance neighborhood, a new patch of homes being built in Sun City Center.

Since 2004, Ludwig has waged a one-man campaign against the construction traffic. He has written to Jerry Starkey, chief executive of WCI Communities, which is developing Renaissance, County Administrator Pat Bean, three county commissioners, county department heads, and Florida Senate president Tom Lee.

To anyone who will listen, Ludwig points to posted signs on the north and south end of Pebble Beach Boulevard asking construction traffic to use U.S. 301.

Some residents take morning walks, he says. Others ride in golf carts.

He worries that semitrailers carrying 40-foot concrete beams or trusses or steel rods will one day hit a resident.

"These people are big business, and they are running right over us," Ludwig said.

Problems would be greatly reduced, Ludwig says, if trucks would use a back road intended for them. Instead of taking S Pebble Beach Boulevard to the Renaissance phase, trucks could take U.S. 301 to Brody Boulevard.

They would enter the project through a gated construction entrance. That gate is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those hours make S Pebble Beach Boulevard even more attractive for trucks arriving before dawn, while the construction entrance is still locked.

Nearly all the government officials who replied to Ludwig began by thanking him for writing. Their letters ended without any promises of action.

Starkey, the CEO of WCI, the developer, wrote back in April 2005, saying that WCI would tell subcontractors that traveling on S Pebble Beach Boulevard is "unacceptable."

Ken Plonski, a WCI spokesman, said the company has tried to act on complaints about construction traffic. WCI has told subcontractors to use the construction gate off U.S. 301 whenever possible.

"We believe we are getting a 95 percent compliance from our subs on this," Plonski said. Violators get a phone call from the developer, he said.

County officials have gone to the site and asked drivers to take U.S. 301, senior engineer Bill McCall said. But if companies want to take S Pebble Beach Boulevard, there is little the county can do to stop them.

That's because regulations against trucks with more than two axles in neighborhoods apply only to "through trucks," vehicles that are passing through but not stopping. There is no law against semis using local roads to get to a destination.

"They can take any route they want," McCall said.

Ludwig said that the loads that the semis carry present a hazard. "A loaded semi weighs more than 80,000 pounds compared to a 3,000-pound car. If you lose the brakes, I think it would be disastrous."

Ludwig said he will continue writing letters to draw attention to the problem.

"I can tell you for sure, nobody here wants them," resident Betty Dunn said of the parade of construction vehicles by her home on S Pebble Beach Boulevard.

Other neighbors say they are not alarmed.

"I haven't noticed trucks that much," said George Ross, 83, who lives on N Pebble Beach Boulevard. Besides the Renaissance phase, contractors are working on a Wal-Mart on State Road 674 and U.S. 301, Ross noted.

"You're going to have a lot of trucks until they're done," Ross said.

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 20, 2006, 13:14:27]