Work on Bruce B. Downs will be done at night

The road will be repaved but all work will be done between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. to avoid traffic backups.

By MELANIE AVE

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2001

New Tampa's busiest road is about to get a $1.65-million face-lift as workers prepare to repave Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

But harried motorists, who are already tired of traffic backups on Bruce B. Downs, shouldn't worry. Most of the work will occur at night, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. through a special arrangement between Hillsborough County and contractor APAC Construction.

"We wanted to minimize the impact to the public," said Jeff Herndon, a manager with the county's public works department.

Because of all the traffic, county officials paid about $60,000 more to get the resurfacing completed at night, he said. Normally, it would have been done during daylight hours.

"It's worth the amount of money for the inconvenience to drivers on that stretch of road," Herndon said.

Repaving will be done on a 7-mile stretch of the road from Fletcher Avenue to the Hillsborough/Pasco County line. Both northbound and southbound lanes will be resurfaced. The project should take between 30 and 60 days to complete.

In addition to the repaving, workers will add a 4-foot shoulder to the outside lanes that will act as a bike path. The bike lanes will be added where none exist, primarily north of Cross Creek Boulevard to the county line.

Herndon said much of the asphalt on Bruce B. Downs is cracked. And if it's not repaired soon, he said the road could end up filled with pot holes.

Sections of Bruce B. Downs, the only way in and out of New Tampa, are more than 15 years old. With an average of 39,436 cars daily traveling through the Bruce B. Downs and Interstate-75 intersection, it is considered a heavily congested road, earning an F from the county on a grade scale of A to F.

Michael McCarthy, manager of the county's traffic services section, said the desired amount of traffic at that section of Bruce B. Downs is 33,000 cars daily.

Eventually, Bruce B. Downs will be widened from its existing four lanes to six.

- Melanie Ave can be reached at (813) 226-3473 or melanie@sptimes.com.

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