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Authority director defends beltway

The toll road would complement a light rail system, he tells the Tampa City Council.

By JANET ZINK
Published September 15, 2006

TAMPA - Plans for a toll road connecting eastern Hillsborough County to surrounding counties dovetail perfectly with Mayor Pam Iorio's proposal for a regional rail system, according to the director of the agency pushing for the road.

"What we are proposing is not just a road," Ralph Mervine, executive director of the embattled Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, told Tampa City Council members Thursday.

It could accommodate multiple forms of transportation and, if blended with Iorio's proposal, all the systems would work better, he said.

Council member Linda Saul-Sena wasn't convinced. "Sprawlway," she called the toll road.

"What you proposed does not offer a smart approach to transportation problems," Saul-Sena said.

The Expressway Authority in July unveiled plans for the toll road, which would stretch north and south in eastern Hillsborough County and pass through Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

Last week, Iorio blasted it.

She said the beltway "ignores smart growth principles," and called for a "real investment in mass transit" that would include a regional rail system.

Iorio shared her views through a position paper sent to hundreds of regional political, business and community leaders and received an enthusiastic response.

Mervine called Iorio's position paper invigorating and inspiring.

He asked the council for a chance to work with the city staff and the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority to show how the two proposals could work together. The council scheduled time for Mervine to come back Nov. 9.

"No one form of transportation is going to satisfy all our needs," Mervine said after the meeting.

The toll road, he said, will include corridors for mass transit. But his agency specializes in building roads, and he has been waiting for someone to come forward with a mass transit plan. "The mayor has taken that bold step," he said.

The future of the Expressway Authority and its projects has been called into question in recent weeks.

Last month, amid charges of improprieties in the selection of legal counsel for the authority, Gov. Jeb Bush suggested the lucrative contract be rebid and recommended a thorough audit of the agency.

Some state lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. Bill Galvano, want to abolish the Expressway Authority. Fasano and Galvano are part of a group working to create a larger regional transportation authority.

"The way I envision what would happen is the beltway would fall under the purview of the regional authority," Galvano said. "It doesn't mean the authority would do it, but it would evaluate it. I think it would be something very similar to what is now proposed. The beltway is a reasonable project."

Times staff writer Michael Van Sickler contributed to this report.

[Last modified September 15, 2006, 01:20:51]