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So, I saw a Bay News 9 report a few weeks ago that brought back up some cranky old feelings I’ve had about the drivers of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel who make the same, all-too-common driving mistakes every day because they actually believe they’re doing the “right thing.”
My most recent traffic diatribe (“Part I” of this occasional series) was about folks who think 45 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone is the fastest everyone should be driving in the left lane, so they stay there as long as they can in order to slow everyone else down, despite the throngs of unhappy people who believe they have no choice but to more dangerously pass them on the right, rather than stay behind these self-proclaimed traffic cops.
The Bay News 9 report that’s serving as the impetus for what is now Part II of this series focused on the right-turn portion of the exit ramp from I-75 onto S.R. 54 eastbound here in Wesley Chapel (photo). It’s a weird, not-enough-lanes intersection with only two lanes coming off I-75 itself, with only two left turn lanes onto S.R. 54 westbound and one dedicated right turn lane onto 54 eastbound.
People on the Bay News 9 report were complaining that there’s no “Keep Moving” or “You Don’t Have To Stop” sign before the “elbow” of the right turn notifying them that they do not have to stop there at all, despite the “scary” red signal notifying left-turn drivers that they, rightfully, can’t just make their turn without stopping.
But, whether there’s a sign there or not, the fact is that common logic would seem to dictate that if you have a right lane that no one else coming from the west can possibly make it into, why would you stop at the “elbow” of the turn, rather than continue rolling so when you have an opening to merge left, you’re already on the move, rather than at a dead stop?
Some will say, “I’m trying to go all the way left to turn left at the Walgreen’s (which is at a traffic light at between 500-1,000 feet to the east of the I-75 intersection).” My response is always that it’s still better to be rolling, rather than standing still, to negotiate that maneuver.
If you’ve ever waited for an entire four-minute progression of a light behind these folks who think “Right On Red After Stop” is an “option” that simply doesn’t apply to them, you know what I mean.
 
ce we told you about it opening a few months ago, check out the picture and tell me you don’t want to try this true, New York-style bakery owned by Evelyn Barrero and William Moreno. Pictured are the new amaretto cupcake, my favorite peanut butter cup cupcake, a hand-piped cannoli, the new chocolate eclair, my new favorite creme brulée cupcake and the bakery’s signature 7-layer cookies. Call 388-2271 or see pg. 37 for info. 
Not every restaurant we write about in these pages is a fancy, sit-down kind of place. In fact, we also are proud to promote places that cater to a different kind of crowd…in this case, a place that caters to the chicken wings, burgers and beer kind of crowd — especially for those looking for a new place after the recent closing of a nearby Beef O’Brady’s (the one on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd.; see page 47).
But of course, the most popular items at WingZone are still the wings, which are available boneless or “traditional” and with 15 different sauces available for smothering them
And, WingZone, which now has about 70 U.S. locations and nearly 20 locations everywhere from Russia to Saudi Arabia, has added some new burger options, including a mac-n-cheese burger, a make-your-own burger and favorites like the Lumberjack (with cinnamon, maple, bacon and cheese on Texas toast) and the Widowmaker (four patties, four slices of cheese and four pieces of bacon).