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Neighborhood news

Crosstown, I-4 link to start in '09; some brace for the noise

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 26, 2007

For 20 years, transportation officials have talked about connecting the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway to Interstate 4. On Tuesday, they posted large maps, displayed a video simulation and told residents the project is slated for construction in 2009.

The elevated limited-access interchange will extend from the expressway north along the west side of 31st to I-4 and pass over Adamo Drive and Seventh Avenue. It will allow westbound traffic on I-4 to take the connector to downtown Tampa and Ybor City, and eastbound traffic on I-4 to head toward Brandon and southeast Hillsborough.

One of the main goals of the project is to provide direct access for trucks to the Port of Tampa. These days, trucks hauling cargo travel through Ybor City, congesting 21st and 22nd streets, said Joe Garrity, one of the project managers. Truck-only lanes on the new connector would get the trucks off the street and let them avoid several traffic lights.

The connector will also provide another hurricane evacuation route.

Transportation officials estimate the project will cost $450-million and are giving 2015 as an estimated year of completion.

The project is meant to serve the whole county, but Palmetto Beach residents will be the most affected.

Michael and Mary Kren live three blocks from the crosstown. Since the expressway's elevated lanes opened this summer, the noise has been unbearable, Mary Kren said.

"It's so noisy, you can't even go to my back yard," she said. Designs for the connector do not include noise walls, and the Krens think noise will get worse.

To make way for construction, the state Department of Transportation will demolish 12 homes on Long Street.

Gerry and Eleanor Wehle have lived in one of those homes for 48 years. They raised their kids in Palmetto Beach. Their daughter played at DeSoto Park, and their kids fished in McKay Bay. They got their three kids through college, remortgaged the house and retired.

"We can sit down and relax," Gerry Wehle thought. Six months later, "boom." They learned two years ago they would have to leave their home.

Their compensation is still being negotiated, and they worry about what taxes will be like in a new home and neighborhood. But Mrs. Wehle picked out a home in Lutz, which is closer to her kids, in a quiet neighborhood that reminds her husband of what Palmetto Beach was like almost half a century ago.

"Things change," he said.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 25, 2007, 12:05:29]