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Residents split over traffic plan

Some worry that efforts to calm traffic will result in unwanted shifts in traffic.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published May 19, 2006

Throughout Tuesday's sixth and final public meeting, residents had yays, nays, hisses and boos for the preliminary traffic control plan.

Traffic calming engineer Angelo Rao plans to use the public comments from this meeting and previous ones to craft a final plan by June 30.

Diane Gilbert of Belmore Road worries that regardless of Rao's proposal, neighbors will still be divided.

"In the end, this process pits neighbor against neighbor because traffic calming equals traffic shifting," Gilbert said.

Shifting traffic problems to other neighborhood streets, inconvenience in getting home, delays for emergency vehicles and child safety dominated the discussion.

While many of the public speakers Tuesday evening wanted small changes to the existing plan, others wanted the process halted or large portions aborted.

Nearly 50 households in the Estates at White Trout Lake oppose traffic calming on Orange Grove Drive, said Cindy Spahn, president of the neighborhood's homeowners association. The street is the main entry and exit for their community, Spahn said. A rebuttal of boos roared from the audience.

Margie McCall of Lipsey Road said she hasn't witnessed the heavy, speeding traffic that's concerning others.

Sitting outside on her front porch is always a "peaceful" experience, she said. In her view, adding traffic calming devices - obstacles such as flat top speed tables and raised intersections to slow and deter traffic - would bring chaos.

"We do not see a problem," McCall said. "We do see a problem if county workers come in with trucks putting in all these humps and bumps."

Mickey Jaap of Carrollwood Drive said that while he doesn't see traffic problems on his street either, the area as a whole still needs traffic control.

"Just because I don't see it does not mean it does not exist," said Jaap, urging attendees to support their neighbors' "serenity" by working together and helping pass the plan, if not for them, for their neighbors.

Homeowners affected by the traffic calming plan for Original Carrollwood will get a chance to vote for or against Rao's final recommendation after he submits it June 30.

Once the ballots are counted, county commissioners will decide whether enough people want traffic calming to warrant moving forward with plans.

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

For more information

While Tuesday's meeting was the last scheduled for Original Carrollwood, traffic calming engineer Angelo Rao will accept written comments about the plan until Sunday, May 28.

He can be reached by fax at (813) 875-4326, by e-mail at arao@volkert-tampa.com or by mail at 3409 W Lemon St., Tampa, FL 33609.

[Last modified May 18, 2006, 13:07:55]