By Matt Wiley
Determining which transportation projects take priority over others is a complicated process debated by several local planning groups. Recently, the latest five-year transportation plan for all of Hillsborough County was approved and several ongoing and future New Tampa road projects sit on top of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)’s 2015-19 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) priority list. One such project should even be completed as you’re reading this issue.
Considered to be the short version of the MPO’s Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which was adopted last year and is called “Imagine 2040,” the TIP lists projects that either already are under construction or are planned for construction in the next five fiscal years (which run from Oct. of each year through the following Sept. The Hillsborough MPO Board approved the latest TIP on June 2. Of the 36 projects across the county that are funded for construction, four of the top six “priority projects” concern New Tampa roads.
Among the New Tampa projects on the TIP, the number two priority is the $35-million widening of the 3.5-mile stretch of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from Bearss Ave. to Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms (“Segment A”), which currently is under construction and tentatively planned for completion by the spring of 2017. While the project still is getting under way in the median of BBD, significant work already can be seen at the intersection of BBD and Tampa Palms Blvd. and just more than a mile south (across BBD from the Oak Ramble shopping plaza), where large wooded areas have been cleared for retention ponds.
That project is followed immediately on the TIP list by the widening of BBD between Pebble Creek Dr. and County Line Rd., or “Segment D.” This all-important final section of BBD widening received funding from the Florida Department of Transportation for what is estimated as a $14.55-million project. FDOT has set aside $5 million in funding from its Transportation Regional Incentive Program to match Hillsborough County’s contribution to get the project under way, although the remaining $4.5 million will still be up to the county (paid for with gas and ad valorem taxes), although the City of Tampa also will contribute $1.2 million for utility work. Construction should begin in early 2016.
Fourth on the TIP list is the completion of the Cross Creek Blvd. widening project between Cory Lake Dr. and Morris Bridge Rd., which should be almost completely wrapped up by the time you’re reading this. The nearly-$4.9-million, 2.2-mile project began in May of 2014 and was scheduled to be completed by Oct. 6.
“We are way ahead of schedule,” says City of Tampa chief construction engineer Don Cermeno. “All of the major road work is done and we were able to get (the project) done early.”
Cermeno said at the time of our interview that final striping was under way and all that remained on Cross Creek Blvd. was some minor shoulder work.
Sixth on the list is the completion of the widening of I-75 from south of E. Fowler Ave. to south of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, which has been ongoing since October of 2011. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) spokesperson Kris Carson says that the $96.6-million, 11.4-mile project to widen the interstate to six lanes should be finished in late July, including the work at the interchanges, such as the widening of BBD underneath I-75, between Dona Michelle Dr. and Palm Springs Blvd. While the lanes have been open for several months, Carson says a final layer of asphalt (the “friction course”) still must be laid on both BBD and I-75. The project is about a year ahead of schedule, with completion originally planned for the spring of 2016.
“(Prince Contracting) is adding more crews to the project,” she says. “However, weather has been a big factor (in delays).”
Specifically, she says, night rains have made paving difficult, as that’s when it’s most convenient to close lanes on I-75.
“I fight tooth and nail on every front to make sure that the needs of people in New Tampa are met,” says District 7 Tampa City Council member Lisa Montelione, who was appointed to the MPO in 2011 by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (Montelione actually serves in the mayor’s seat on the MPO). “They’ve been suffering with traffic and transportation problems for years. Pushing those projects forward, making sure that they’re included and ranked and making sure that people know how important they are, that’s all part of the job.”
For additional information about the MPO’s Five-Year Plan, please visit PlanHillsborough.org.
No comment yet, add your voice below!