Note – we are aware that the resurfacing of New Tampa Blvd. is progressing nicely and is much further along than what appears in this story. The following story was written when the project had just begun the day before.
When I attended the official groundbreaking ceremony for the resurfacing of a 1.8-mile stretch of New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows on Aug. 5, I was thrilled to see that one of District 7 Tampa City Council member (and New Tampa resident) Luis Viera’s most ardently-pushed projects was finally coming to fruition.
“There are a few projects left that I am still working to get done before I leave office on Nov. 2,” Viera told me after the ceremony also attended by Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Viera’s fellow City Council member and chair Alan Clendenin, City of Tampa Mobility Department director Brandon Campbell and long-time West Meadows resident Brad van Rooyen. “But finally getting New Tampa Blvd. repaved has definitely been one of my top priorities.”
But, with the first New Tampa Blvd. repaving already having started the day before the groundbreaking event, all of the day’s speakers were thrilled to get this project finally started.
“Since the loss of the All For Transportation sales surtax,” Mayor Castor said, “which would have been a great source of funding for paving projects like this throughout our city, we’ve had to look at other options. We’ve used a lot of our General Fund we’ve put into paving projects. We’re also looking at our regional infrastructure accelerator and some other ways to not only solve our transportation issues, but also the safety and conditions of our roads.”
She lauded the work of the city’s two in-house paving crews, which she said, “They can do our [paving] work at about half the price in about half the time [of using an outside contractor], so they’ve been doing a really great job.”
Mayor Castor also noted that, “We set a record in the City of Tampa last year, paving over 80 miles of roadways. But, even though that doesn’t begin to address the needs of our community, it really shows that we are focused on paving our streets.”
She also complimented the city’s “Fix It Fast” program. “Anyone that sees a pothole in a roadway, signs being down, anything like that, if you call, the goal is within 72 hours to fix that. And, most of them are done in 48 hours.”
And finally, she said, “One of the things we’ve been very intentional about is making sure that we’re hitting every single neighborhood. If anybody has a question about our paving progress and what roads we intend to pave in the future, go to Tampa.gov. There’s a map that shows all of the paving that’s been done and the streets we’re going to hit in the future.”
She also noted, however, that while “it’s an inconvenience for our driving public to go over bumpy roads and potholes, for us, as that road deteriorates, it goes from a simple paving job to a rebuilding job. Every road in the city is graded, and we are hitting the worst first.”
When introducing Viera, the Mayor said, “Short of jumping up on my desk with a map of New Tampa Blvd. saying ‘Pave this or else,’ he has been on this project relentlessly. So, I want to say thank you to Luis and his persistence and for really being a champion for New Tampa.”
Viera started his comments by saying that, “Since I’ve been in office, with K-Bar Ranch forthcoming, we’ve gotten about $20 million in new parks funding for New Tampa alone and about 80% of that has been in partnership between City Council and Mayor Castor, who has proven herself to be, in my time, not just a good person, but a real supporter of New Tampa.”
And of course, Luis reiterated his slogan that New Tampa “is the Alaska of Tampa. Most of the people in New Tampa aren’t from Tampa. They’re from up north and different parts of the world. We’re religiously and culturally diverse and all we want are safe neighborhoods and just the basics. This project is a very big win for New Tampa.”
Viera also mentioned that he and van Rooyen “went to high school together. Brad helped me out on my first campaign and since I got elected, this road has been his Moby Dick and he is Captain Ahab. He is obsessed with this road because he’s a community leader here in West Meadows and he’s a wonderful person and a good friend and a great family man.”
Next, Viera introduced Clendenin, whom he called, “a good friend, a good and decent person and a great community leader.”
The Council chair started his comments by saying, “To say that Councilman Viera is a champion for New Tampa would be the biggest understatement anyone at this [event] would make today. I’ve never met anyone as passionate about his community as Councilman Viera has been about New Tampa serving on City Council.”
“[Since] we started this, we have exponentially increased our paving budget,” Clendenin said. “Working with the administration, we have doubled our in-house paving crew. If you drive around the city, you see paving projects in every corner of the city. So, wherever you live in the City of Tampa, [your streets] are on our radar.”
He added that, “We’re making up for decades and decades of neglect of the roads not being paved. So, this isn’t a problem solved in one, two or three years; it’s a much longer-term project, but we will get to those roads.
“There’s a commitment on City Council and the administration to make sure we have the funding and the other six people I sit with on City Council are absolutely committed to improving the city’s infrastructure.
“I’m happy for New Tampa for this accomplishment. This is the first, not the last. And, we look forward to continuing this momentum.”
Up next was Campbell, who said that, “You’ll probably notice that the contractor is not out here today because this road carries about 12,000 cars a day, which hopefully means that we’ll have 12,000 happy customers at the end of this project. But, it also means that they’re doing most of their work at night.”
Campbell also noted that along with New Tampa Blvd., “we recently repaved Commerce Palms and Compton Dr. as well — and that really just highlights our commitment to not only New Tampa, but to all areas of the city.”
He added that, “So, far this year, we’re at about 30 lane miles of resurfacing and this project will ad three-and-a-half more lane miles to that bank as we make our way towards last year’s record of 80 lane miles being resurfaced. Since 2019, we have resurfaced over 330 lane miles throughout the city, which I think is a testament to the commitment from the Mayor, City Council and my department.”
The final speaker was van Rooyen, the president of The Promenade at West Meadows Homeowners Assn. “and I previously served as president of the West Meadows Property Owners Association. I also served three four-year terms on our Community Development District.
“I have lived here for 22 years and I honestly thought this project was never going to happen. But, while Marvel has Captain America, we finally got ‘Capt. New Tampa,’ Luis Viera.
“I want to thank Luis for listening to us. He’s stayed engaged with the community. He heard our concerns and he advocated for us.
“New Tampa asks for very little of the city. We have homeowners associations and CDDs who take care of our infrastructure, so all we ask for from the city are safe roads, mobility and public safety — and this is the first administration that has heard our concerns. So, thank you to the Mayor, City Council and city staff for making this project a reality.”
Viera has since posted that now with New Tampa Blvd. underway, “Before I leave Council, I hope to see the ‘cut-through’ finally being open for K-Bar Ranch, formal passage of $8 million for the historic K-Bar Ranch park, passage of our Public Safety Master Plan ordinance and some progress on provisional funding for a New Tampa Police Substation presence.”