Bypass likely to disappear from plans

Hillsborough residents offer fierce criticism of "sprawlway."

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

TAMPA - Some call it the Brandon Bypass or the Beltway. Critics call it the "sprawlway," "sprawl magnet" or "swath of death."

Activists from south and east Hillsborough County came to Hillsborough's transportation planning board Tuesday with a request: Please remove this controversial road from your long-range planning map.

They got an answer that pleased them: Transportation officials said the potential highway can probably be erased from their map.

But no one is under any illusion that this would put a permanent end to the subject. It almost certainly will become an issue again in the future.

This came on the heels of a public meeting Monday night in Lithia that drew at least 300. Residents also voiced harsh criticisms of the plan at recent meetings in Ruskin and Riverview.

Staffers have tabled this plan for now and will revamp it. They say the bypass was included based on an earlier plan produced by Hillsborough's Metropolitan Planning Organization.

MPO staffers have noted that the beltway never actually made it onto the list of roads that the board approved for government funding. Instead, a vague and conceptual route for the beltway was included in the MPO's 2025 transportation "needs assessment," which is more of a wide-ranging wish list.

The MPO referred the matter to its policy committee, which will report back to the board at its December meeting.

But the agency's chairman, Temple Terrace Mayor Joe Affronti, said after Tuesday's meeting that he was confident the beltway would be dropped. "It'll be removed," he said.

Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report. Mike Brassfield can be reached at brassfield@sptimes.com or 813 226-3435.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 23:42:30]