The connected city projected is not only bringing fast internet and Crystal Lagoons (see pgs. 1 & 4) to Wesley Chapel, it will also result in some local road improvements, as the county preps for additional traffic in the future.
A 2005 route study that recommended widening Curley Rd. (C.R. 577) is getting a re-evaluation, due to development in the area that is expected to increase traffic. Curley Rd. makes up the connected city’s western border.
Also, Clinton Ave. is being extended to the west and will become the new re-aligned S.R. 52, which runs along the connected city’s northern border in San Antonio.
A steady crowd (photo) showed up to participate in the route study re-evaluation Open House held Dec. 6 at Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Parish Center in San Antonio.
Local residents were allowed to view the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) plans for east-west re-aligning of S.R. 52, which is expected to begin in June of 2019.
The county hopes to complete its right-of-way acquisitions by the spring of 2019.
The Curley Rd. project itself is even further off. While minor improvements will be made where Curley connects with the realigned S.R. 52, right now, it is unlikely anything will be done with widening it or re-routing where it connects with Prospect Rd. (579A) before 2030.
“Because of connected city (east of Curley)and the Villages of Pasadena (a development on the west side of Curley Rd.), things have changed,’’ said Panos Kontses, project manager for the Pasco County Engineering Services Department. “What we analyzed then has changed, so we are doing a refreshing of the study.”
The study is looking at widening Curley Rd. from two to four lanes (from one lane in each direction to two lanes in each direction) from north of the Wesley Chapel schools on Wells Rd. to north of the S.R. 52 re-alignment.
The road would have one sidewalk, and a 46-foot grass median that could allow for the expansion of the road to six total lanes.
Also presented at the open house were three alternatives for a Curley Rd.-Prospect Rd. intersection, north of Tyndall Rd.
Prospect Rd. is an east-west road that curves north before ending at Curley (after Curley curves west).
New plans call for extending Prospect west to Curley, where the two roads will intersect. But, Prospect will become Mirada Blvd. and run northwest through another connected city/Crystal Lagoon development called Mirada.
Residents were asked to weigh in on three options: a single signalized intersection, a roundabout with right turn bypass lanes or two signalized offset “T” intersections for the Curley Rd./Mirada Blvd./Prospect Rd. intersection.
According to traffic studies, Curley Rd. currently handles roughly 7,200 vehicles a day, but by 2041 is projected to have 21,000 vehicles traveling on it each day.
Likewise, Prospect Rd. is expected to increase from 6,200 to 15,100, and once the intersection is complete, Mirada Blvd. will be handling 11,900 vehicles daily.
“It is a ways off,” Kontses said. “All we’re doing right now are the planning studies. We don’t (currently) have the funding for design or construction of this project.”
The New Tampa Regional Library, which opened in 1997, is getting some major renovations, including this glass-enclosed upgrade to the library’s children’s room.
The New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd. opened a little more than 20 years ago, in May 1997. The building has started to show its age, so it’s getting a few updates.
Nearing completion shortly is one big change immediately noticeable to anyone who brings kids to the library. The formerly wide-open building now has an enclosed children’s area. With a mostly glass wall, the space still feels open, but 3,382 square feet of the library is now behind a door and designated specifically for use by children and their families.
“Everyone assumes that the wall was built for noise, and that’s part of it,” says NTRL principal librarian Wendy Prasad, “but it’s also for a safe learning environment, and gives a space for kids to be kids a little more.”
Prasad emphasizes that the library still isn’t a playground for running and horseplay, but, she says, “Modern public libraries are community buildings, and there’s more of a feeling of a shared community space, so we encourage different uses of the library.”
Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library’s manager of library development Chely Cantrell says the newly partitioned space for the library’s youngest patrons makes sense.
“New Tampa has such an amazing community that really supports the library and attends its programs,” Cantrell says. “There’s a large crowd that comes in and attends children’s programming, so now we will have more of a dynamic, interactive area inside of the children’s room.”
The wall is already built, but Cantrell says the finishing touches — including family-friendly furniture and educational materials that enhance early learning — are still on their way.
“We will be bringing in Grandma Claire’s Early Learning Hive,” says Prasad, who explains the library’s system-wide Makerspace is called The Hive. For adults and teens, the focus is on technology.
“For early literacy, we’ll have a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) concept and early learning concepts, but it won’t be technology-based,” says Prasad. “We’ll have early learning blocks and LEGOs, word matching, letters, sensory toys and manipulatives.”
The room is being named “Grandma Claire’s” after a donation from Claire Unnasch, a New Tampa resident who passed away in 2016 and provided a gift of $25,000 towards enhancing the children’s area.
The total budget for the project, including the construction of the wall and also replacing the partition in the community room, is $205,368. The actual final cost will be determined at the project’s completion.
“It’s part of the cultural community shift and where libraries fit into that,” Prasad says.
Modern libraries — including the NTRL — are often adapting to the needs and desires of the people who use them, adding programs, inviting in groups and enhancing the “Maker” options available to the community.
For example, the New Tampa library has added a daily “Teen Zone” for students leaving Benito Middle School, which is located right next door to the library. As many students arrive at NTRL at the same time after school, Prasad and her staff have found ways to make them feel welcome and help them take advantage of the library’s many offerings.
“We open our community room for about an hour and a half every day with video games and other activities,” says Prasad. “We’re here for our community, and that includes everybody.”
Additional construction is planned for 2018. The building is scheduled to have a new roof put on starting in January, during which time it’s expected that the library will remain open during regular business hours, but it may be noisier than usual.
NTRL’s bathrooms also will be upgraded, although the schedule is still being worked out to determine the least possible impact on library patrons.
Although there didn’t seem to be a lot of answers for the traffic questions posed during his town hall appearance Nov. 16 at The Venetian Events Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church (story on previous page), Hillsborough County District 5 Commissioner Ken Hagan did have some good news for local drivers.
Hagan revealed thatBrookron Dr. (photo), which more than a few attendees likely traveled to get to the town hall, could be resurfaced by this time next year.
A story in our last issue reported that the 18-year-old road, riddled with potholes in some sections, had been patched over at least 50 times and had been the source of several resident complaints.
Local resident Sasenarine Persaud emailed county commissioners to make his case that repaving the road — which he described as “a motley (collection) of patches, ridges and depressions, with a new pothole opening every week” — should be a priority.
Ken Hagan
Hagan worked on doing just that. He said the road previously was on the unfunded project list and was unlikely to receive any attention until 2021 or ‘22. “But, I am very pleased that I was able to get that road reclassified from local to a connector road,” Hagan said. “So now, I’ve got that road funded for fiscal year 2019, which begins in October. I’ll do everything I can in October and November next year to have that road resurfaced. I think that’s pretty good news.”
The county’s public works department said the estimated cost of resurfacing Brookron Dr. is $500,000.
Hillsborough County Fire Chief Dennis Jones (left) explains to local residents (including Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera) at a recent town hall that Pasco County is likely to provide emergency services to unincorporated New Tampa in the future. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Hillsborough County has elected to secure the services of nearby Pasco County to provide fire service to the New Tampa communities not located within the city limits of the City of Tampa, pending a vote this week.
“It was the mayor (Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn) who said if we didn’t like it, then go to Pasco,’’ says County Fire Chief Dennis Jones. “So, we went to Pasco.”
The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will vote Wednesday whether or not to approve a $275,000 annual contract between Hillsborough and Pasco counties for fire services for residents in Pebble Creek, Live Oak, Cross Creek and other communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, such as the Branchton Park area.
The county and the City of Tampa, which has provided fire serviceto the unincorporated portion of New Tampa with some combination of Fire Stations Nos. 20, 21 and 22 the past 20 years, are ending a long agreement, after the city said it was raising the cost of its service to unincorporated New Tampa from $218,000 to $1.4 million per year.
Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted to approve the deal on Nov. 28.
“I’m 100 percent for it,’’ said Pasco BCC chair Mike Moore, who represents most of Wesley Chapel in District 2, prior to the vote. “It’s a wash for us. We’re not making a ton of money off it, but we’re being good neighbors.”
Under the new agreement, unincorporated areas of New Tampa will primarily be serviced by Pasco County Fire Rescue Station No. 26, located in the nearby Meadow Pointe I community of Wesley Chapel.
The station is roughly 1.6 miles from the entrance to Live Oak Preserve, 1.9 miles to the entrance to the Pebble Creek Golf Club, 2.5 miles to the intersection of Cross Creek Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., and about 5 miles from the Kinnan St. area.
“Most communities in the unincorporated area are closer to the Pasco county fire station,’’ Chief Jones explained to a crowd at a recent New Tampa town hall (see page 6). “(Station 26) has a fire engine, rescue car and paramedic service.”
The contract is with the county, Jones said, not with just the one fire station, so other stations would also be available if needed. For example, Pasco County has Fire Rescue Station 13 in Quail Hollow, which is 7.9 miles from Live Oak Preserve, Fire Rescue Station No. 16 in Zephyrhills, which is located roughly 10.7 miles from the easternmost part of the unincorporated area, and No. 23 in Lutz, which is about the same distance from the westernmost areas.
Also, Jones added, Pasco and the City of Tampa have a mutual aid agreement. If Pasco is not available for a call, it would call Tampa for mutual aid, meaning Tampa Fire Rescue No. 21 or No. 22 (both on Cross Creek Blvd.) would provide the service.
Chief Jones also promised residents at that town hall meeting that their service would not stop, nor would they be responsible for any additional assessments.
The prospect of being serviced by a fire rescue station further away than TFR Station Nos. 21 and 22 didn’t sit well with some unincorporated New Tampa residents.
“We’re going to wait for Pasco to respond from County Line Road?,’’ asked Pebble Creek resident Craig Lewis at the town hall. “For Pasco to come down Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in that traffic? You expect us to get fire service that far away when we have two engines within a mile of my house? That is absolutely ludicrous, and is not acceptable.”
Jones said other options for a local Hillsborough County unit staged from a modular building were explored, but all of them cost more than Pasco County’s services.
“We don’t have an option, so our option is the next closest and make a deal with (Pasco),’’ Jones said.
Lewis suggested that the baseball fields on Kinnan St. be moved to Branchton Park (on Morris Bridge Rd), and replaced with a fire station to service the unincorporated communities of New Tampa.
The nearest Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Station is the University Area Station No. 5 on E. 139th Ave.
Hillsborough County District 5 commissioner Ken Hagan said at the town hall that he was hopeful residents wouldn’t notice any changes in their emergency services.
“We’re doing everything to ensure seamless service,” Hagan said. “We won’t let anything happen that will reduce the level of service you get out here, you have my word on that.”
About 100 local residents attended the Nov. 16 town hall meeting at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church to voice their concerns to local governmental officials. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
If you put 100 residents of New Tampa in a room and ask them what they would like to see fixed most in this community, there’s a pretty good chance the majority will have a simple response:
Traffic.
It was no surprise, then, that when District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera held his second New Tampa Town Hall Nov. 16, with Hillsborough County District 5 (countywide) commissioner Ken Hagan, discussions about traffic dominated the conversation.
Whether it was the right-hand turn off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. onto Cross Creek Blvd., the connection of Kinnan St. in Cross Creek to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, the construction on BBD or even residents speeding along Kinnan St., local residents gathered at The Venetian Events Center at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd. wanted to know what solutions they could expect.
Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera (left) and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan hosted the November 16 town hall meeting at St. Mark’s. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Even New Tampa’s East-West connector roadway (E-W Rd.) project that was effectively killed in 2008 by the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, got some run, thanks to the first speaker of the night, William Martello. A 15-year New Tampa resident, Martello lamented the failed E-W Rd. project.
That project, which evolved into basically a public-private partnership (P3) venture, was a 3-mile toll road that would have connected New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows through Tampa Palms Areas 3 and 5 to a new interchange on Interstate 275.
The project was nixed due to the objections of residents in both West Meadows and Tampa Palms, and fear of high tolls. Though dormant for years, the E-W Rd.remains in the Tampa-Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)’s long-range plan.
Ken Hagan
Long-time local resident Jim Davison — who has run unsuccessfully for City Council against Viera and for the County Commission against Hagan, said the city or one of its affiliates is taking another look at the feasibility and affordability of the project. Davison hinted that he had a plan, which he will reveal after the holidays, that would show the city how it could pay for both the E-W Rd. and light rail for a mere tax increase of half a cent.
Hagan has been a proponent of the E-W Rd., and said he would like to see the proposal rise from the ashes and get another look.
Other options to relieve congestion on Cross Creek Blvd., Martello suggested, would be widening Morris Bridge Rd. northbound starting at Cross Creek, although widening it southbound is a near impossibility.
Martello also suggested extending Cross Creek through Morris Bridge to US 301 in Thonotosassa.
Hagan confessed to never hearing anyone ever suggest that idea before, but said he would look into it.
Naturally, the connection of Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe came up, although it did not dominate the discussion, due to complaints about several other roads in the area.
One female speaker, who did not give her name, asked Viera and Hagan what was being done behind the scenes to get Kinnan connected to Mansfield, which many say will ease traffic on BBD and help local businesses.
Viera and Hagan had little new to offer. Truth is, at the moment, the connection lies in the hands of Pasco County, which has commissioned a study to determine if melding Mansfield and Kinnan is worthwhile. According to Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore, most of the Pasco residents he has heard from are opposed to the connection because of the potential of increased traffic.
The Pasco study also is looking at two other connections between Wesley Chapel and New Tampa through K-Bar Ranch, but none can be done as quickly, nor would provide the relief for BBD, or the convenience, that a Kinnan-Mansfield connection would offer. That study is supposed to be completed by the end of this year.
“Kinnan has always been planned to open up,’’ Hagan said. “Pasco said that as soon as (Mansfield) was completed to Wiregrass, it would be connected. They reneged on that.”
Hagan, who spearheaded a $250,000 commitment by Hillsborough’s BOCC to build the connection, even suggested looking into using eminent domain to get the roads connected.
“We are doing whatever we can,’’ Hagan said.
Speaking on Kinnan, K-Bar Ranch resident April Ingram may be one of those in New Tampa opposed to the connection unless safeguards are put in place.
She gave an impassioned plea for drivers along Kinnan St. to watch their speeds, and for the enforcement of traffic laws. Ingram said she and her 9-year-old son fear walking or biking around that area of New Tampa.
“We have almost been mowed down several times on Kinnan,” she said. “I’ve seen cars driving 50 mph through here. I live here so I can go outside, with my son, to ride bikes, to walk. And every day, I am scared to death we are going to be hit by a car.”
Although no one else spoke on this topic, a few people in the room nodded their heads.
Afterwards, another woman came up to Ingram to tell her she totally agreed. She said sometimes, she too wonders, “Is somebody going to die today?”
Ingram also criticized the drivers trying to make aright turn onto Cross Creek from BBD for cutting off other drivers and essentially creating a second turn lane that backs up traffic all the way past the Hunter’s Green entrance.
A USF employee, Ingram said she now takes Morris Bridge Rd. home (instead of the BBD exit off I-75) because, “it can take 40 minutes trying to take a right onto Cross Creek.”
Ingram thinks a few tickets might end the problem, but has been disappointed to see a lack of enforcement by the Tampa Police Department. Hagan noted that he was stuck in that same traffic on his way to the town hall.
Viera said the city is currently studying the lights at the busy intersection in hopes of resolving the traffic build-up.
New Tampa resident Jeffrey Blank was on Ingram’s side as well.
“I’m from New York and New Jersey, so I’m used to traffic in Manhattan,’’ Blank said. “Thatintersection? It makes Manhattan look good.”
Blank’s solution? Think ahead.
“Why don’t the county and city account for the traffic new developments are going to bring (before approving them), instead of waiting until it’s too late?,” he asked.
It might have been the best question of the night.
The connected city projected is not only bringing fast internet and Crystal Lagoons (see pgs. 1 & 4) to Wesley Chapel, it will also result in some local road improvements, as the county preps for additional traffic in the future.
