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The light was expected to be in place this month, but installers discovered an underground power line had to be moved.
By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 28, 2001
WESTCHASE -- This time last year, leaders in the Westchase community were working diligently on getting a controversial roundabout installed at Linebaugh Avenue and Montague Drive.
Those plans died when county traffic officials determined that a traffic light was a better solution.
Now, after months of inching their way through a four-way stop at the intersection, Westchase residents will see the light sometime in January.
"The best possible date for the light to be operational is the third week of January," said Westchase Community Association spokesperson Kris DiGiovanni. "That's a tentative date. If anything goes wrong, that date could slip."
Already, something has gone wrong, delaying the light's installation. The light, which was supposed to be operational in December, was slow in coming because installers discovered an underground power line that had to be moved before construction could continue.
"The earliest completion date was in October, and the outside estimate was sometime in December," DiGiovanni said. "But that did not factor in this TECO line, which was completely unexpected."
The next stop for traffic lights in Westchase will be at Linebaugh and Gretna Green. A traffic study established that some sort of traffic control is needed there. Whether it will be a light or another attempt at a roundabout has yet to be determined.
Roundabouts were the cause celebre two years ago when community leaders first proposed them for several intersections along Linebaugh. But they've fallen along the wayside in the last year in the wake of a change in community leadership and a lukewarm response from county traffic officials.