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Hillsborough approves beltway idea to link Tampa Bay region

By BILL VARIAN
Published August 3, 2006

TAMPA - A strong majority of Hillsborough commissioners enthusiastically blessed a proposal to build a suburban beltway linking the four main high-growth counties of the Tampa Bay region.

Using descriptions such as "excellent," "tremendous," and "bold," commissioners voted 6-1 to give their conceptual approval to the toll road being proposed by the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority.

"Looking at the concept, this beltway will be good for the Tampa Bay region," said Tom Scott, who sits on both boards and made the motion to sanction the plan.

Commissioner Kathy Castor voted against the proposal, which she said will take limited potential money for improving transportation away from the county's job centers and divert it to areas where it will promote more growth. She also faulted the proposal for its lack of emphasis on rail or other transit.

"I'm concerned that our precious dollars would go to a sprawling roadway," she said.

None of the commissioners raised any concerns when Scott acknowledged that he had been briefed on the proposal a year ago and told to "keep it very confidential," though the proposal would affect thousands of people in the region. It only became public last week after the Expressway Authority received requests from two newspapers records for written documentation about the project.

Expressway Authority officials will now seek similar blessings from the other county governments, and, with their approval, will begin a years-long process of studying detailed routes, designing the road and jumping the various regulatory hurdles ahead. Optimistically, they hope to be able to open some segments of the road by 2015.

Commissioners said there will be many opportunities for them to intervene and raise objections if necessary, and that the beltway is far from a done deal.

[Last modified August 3, 2006, 08:34:21]