What’s Happening With Morris Bridge Rd.? The Big Changes At 3 Key Intersections

Construction at the intersection of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. at MB Rd. (Photo by Joel Provenzano)

If it feels like Morris Bridge Rd. (MB Rd.) has been in a constant state of change lately, you’re not imagining it. From New Tampa through Wesley Chapel, this important north–south corridor, once considered little more than a two-lane country road, has seen closures, construction crews, and long-awaited reopenings — with even more changes on the horizon. 

As Neighborhood News has reported over the past several years, MB Rd. is gradually transforming from a quiet rural connector into a critical link between several fast-growing communities in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. 

Here’s a closer look at what’s recently been completed, what’s under way, and what’s still to come — with a focus on three intersections that are shaping the future of the MB Rd. corridor. 

MB Rd. At Future K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. 

As we first reported in April 2024, the final phase of K-Bar Ranch in Hillsborough County is more than just another residential expansion — it’s a long-planned transportation connection that will finally open all of K-Bar Ranch to MB Rd., benefiting both New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents alike. That vision is now becoming reality. 

Construction is under way on the eastward extension of K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. past Easton Park to MB Rd. Once completed, this connection also will allow access from Wesley Chapel, including from Union Park and Meadow Pointe, via the planned Wyndfields Blvd. extension to the south and the existing Meadow Pointe Blvd. extension. 

The map of the planned K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. extension we ran in Apr. 2024. (Source: NN) 

Although the Neighborhood News first told our readers the story of this future connection about a year and a half ago (see map), crews are now actively building the new phase of K-Bar Ranch, and the collector road that will extend Wyndfields Blvd. south into the New Tampa development. For Union Park residents in particular, this means a new and more direct route into Tampa — and fewer bottlenecks on already-crowded roads. 

Turn lanes are currently being added along MB Rd. at the future K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. intersection (top photo), and a traffic signal will follow. The signal is required under the developer agreement and will help manage the increased traffic once the road opens. 

According to the K-Bar Ranch III CDD Preliminary Engineer’s Report (Jan. 2025), construction on the overall final build-out is planned to run from Mar. 2025 through December 2028, and is broken into two phases. 

Phase 1 includes 471 single-family homes, followed by 188 townhomes in Phase 2. Based on issued permits and the pace of construction, it’s likely the road connection will be completed before Phase 2 even begins — possibly even this year. 

In short, the long-anticipated direct connection between K-Bar Ranch, Union Park, Meadow Pointe and MB Rd. is now closer than ever. 

MB Rd. At Bonnet Hole Dr. 

Just north of Cory Lake Blvd. (less than two miles south of Cross Creek Blvd.), the Hillsborough County section of MB Rd. reopened the week of Christmas after a full closure that frustrated many residents — particularly those still remembering the road’s prolonged shutdown following Hurricane Milton in Oct. 2024. 

The Dec. 8-Dec. 22 closure was necessary to complete stormwater drainage repairs between Apache Dr. and Bonnet Hole Dr., as Hillsborough County explained in a public release. To put it plainly — collapsing and aging culverts under the roadway had to be fully replaced. 

Although only a small segment of MB Rd. was actually shut down, detours were lengthy due to the lack of alternative routes. During our communications, county officials acknowledged the inconvenience to residents. 

Typically, fully closing the road allows crews to complete the work much faster than staged lane closures would have, especially on two-lane roads where it’s harder to shift traffic and breakup the digging into two phases, due to limited space. 

Chris Wilkerson, senior media relations strategist for Hillsborough’s Public Works Dept., told us this single stormwater project cost approximately $240,000. When asked if more closures are coming, Wilkerson confirmed that two additional stormwater-related closures are expected on MB Rd. in 2026 — one just north and one just south of the recent work area — so residents will need to keep an eye out for when those closures are announced. 

MB Rd. at Chancey Rd. (Pasco) 

Meanwhile, in Pasco County, the long-closed intersection of MB Rd. between S.R. 56 and Chancey Rd. finally reopened just before Christmas, ending months of detours and speculation about what went wrong. 

Despite early rumors of the closure being caused by a “sinkhole,” Pasco officials clarified that the issue was actually a damaged, buried 16-inch water main. When the main failed, it washed away soil beneath the roadway, creating a large underground void that looked like a sinkhole, but was not a traditional limestone collapse. 

The unexpected discovery of the water line — struck during routine work — complicated the repair. Replacement parts had to be specially ordered, delaying construction for months. Pasco officials had warned residents back on Sept. 19 that delivery and installation of the water main alone could take at least eight weeks, followed by another five to eight weeks to rebuild the road. 

In the end, the project was completed almost exactly within that extended timeframe. 

But, while the intersection is now open, some residents have been disappointed to see no new left-turn lanes added. According to Pasco officials, those improvements are part of a larger widening project that is still in development. 

The county’s current Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) list, adopted in June 2025, shows plans to widen MB Rd. to a four-lane divided roadway between S.R. 54 and S.R. 56. Construction is tentatively scheduled in two phases: 

2028 – From S.R. 54 south through the Chancey Rd. intersection 

2029 – From south of Chancey Rd. to S.R. 56 

Of course, the project has already been delayed once and timelines could change again. 

The Big Picture 

Taken together, these three intersections tell the story of MB Rd. today — a corridor under pressure from rapid growth, environmental challenges and aging infrastructure — but also one that’s steadily being improved. 

Some work is finished, some is still under way and more is coming in the next few years. For residents of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel alike, the changes along MB Rd. promise better connectivity in the long run, even as the short-term disruptions unfortunately continue. 

As always, the Neighborhood News will keep you updated with what’s happening with the MB Rd. corridor — one closure, one construction zone and one reopening at a time. 

‘American Fabric’ Film Being Produced In K-Bar Ranch!

A Local Gastroenterologist & Award-Winning Filmmaker Shoots A Short Film At Her New Tampa Home
(L.-r.) “American Fabric” stars Hana Soomro (who plays Lina), Carina Conti (who plays Nila), and screenwriter, producer & director (and K-Bar Ranch resident ) Dr. Nyla Hazratjee at one of the location shoots for the short film that Hazratjee plans to submit to film festivals by May of this year. (Photo by Charmaine George) 

One young American woman of Muslim descent decides that she wants to start wearing a hijab (the Muslim head scarf), while another decides she doesn’t want to wear one anymore.

A discussion at the local mosque on Morris Bridge Rd.? Perhaps, but it’s also the basis of the story for “American Fabric,” a short film being shot in part in the K-Bar Ranch community that is being directed by K-Bar resident and local gastroenterologist Dr. Nyla Hazratjee.

The promotional poster for “The Persian Version,” the award-winning 2023 feature film for which Nyla was the executive producer.

Nyla, who also wrote the script for “American Fabric,” is already an award-winning filmmaker. She was the executive producer of the full-length feature film “The Persian Version,” a heartwarming “dramedy” that made its debut at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and ended up winning two prestigious awards there — the Audience Award for the U.S. Dramatic Competition and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for writer/director Maryan Keshavarz.

But, Nyla says that “American Fabric” is her first foray into writing and directing a film herself and she called our office just a couple of days before we went to press with this issue to invite us to her home in K-Bar Ranch to take pictures and interview her. She told me that her short film, which she hopes to have completed in time for the domestic film festival season this spring and summer, is “really about empowering women.”    

“I’m a producer by trade and also by personality,” Dr. Nyla Hazratjee told me following the first of three days of shooting for “American Fabric,” the film she wrote and which represents her directorial debut. “I think lots of women are producers in their lives as well, so I think that led me to that part of the film industry.”

As for why she decided to direct this time around, she said, “I wrote the film and I knew what I wanted it to look like, so who else?”

As for the film’s subject matter — the decision by young Muslim women as to whether or not they want to wear the hijab, Nyla said, “I do wear the head scarf, but I didn’t always. And, I think every day I have to make the choice as to whether or not I want to keep wearing it. I know so many women who either didn’t wear it but started wearing it and so many more who did wear it and decided to not wear it anymore.”

But, she adds, that choice isn’t really what the film is about, “It’s really about my body, my choice, and I believe that most women can relate to this kind of a story. It’s a personal story, but I believe it should have a wide relatability.”

This photo and the photos below are scenes from “American Fabric.” (Photos by Charmaine George & Gary Nager)

She added, “My body, my choice is about feminism but it isn’t just about taking it off, it’s also about putting it on — and that it’s really up to you what you do with your body. But, in women’s world, so many other people feel that they have agency over a woman’s agency.”

The two main characters in “American Fabric” are Lina (played by Hana Soomro), a young model who decides during a photo shoot that she wants to start wearing a hijab, and Nila (played by Carina Conti), who is a hijabi who decides she wants to stop wearing hers. 

“There’s a quiet acceptance that comes into these girls’ lives, as they come to their [separate] decisions,” Nyla says, “despite all of the opposition that they’re receiving from their friends, their families, men…to say, ‘This is what I want to do and I’m going to do it regardless.’”

Nyla, who is actually from Pakistan herself, said that part of her motivation to make “American Fabric” was because, “What we call ‘Brown Hollywood,’ or Muslim Hollywood, is made up of a diaspora (a group of people who share a cultural, religious or regional origin but who live outside of their traditional homelands) — so Muslim, Middle Eastern, North African and all of those other voices combined. So, when we meet each other, we meet as if we’re old friends. Some of the actors in this film are of Persian (from Iran) descent, some are Pakistani, some are Indian and some are not of that region at all.”

(l.-r.) Producer Nadia Cox, costume director Noor Hamid, hair & makeup artist Jess Marie, cinematographer Tian Liu, 1st assistant director Rebecca Saionz, Dr. Nyla Hazratjee, 2nd assistant director Chelsea Butz and production designer Tanya Kayani of “American Fabric.” (Photo by Charmaine George)

She also is proud of the mix of ethnicities in her mostly female cast and crew. “Our cinematgrapher is Chinese American, our first assistant director (AD) is Caucasian…I think we have all of our bases covered as far as races are concerned. And, we’re also mostly a local Florida cast and crew.”

Nyla also gives a shout-out to the Tampa Bay Film Commission. “They’ve been wonderful, super-helpful and they try very hard to accommodate the things that a filmmaker needs to make a film happen here. So, we’re super lucky.”

As for the film itself, Nyla said the names of the two female leads were chosen intentionally.

“One is Nila and the other is Lina, so they’re like two sides of the same coin, even though they’re not at all the same personality-wise,” Nyla said. “But, all of their experiences throughout the day, as we end up as this party, are similar, even though they come to very opposite decisions. But, isn’t that the female condition? That’s really what we want to show.”

She added that she definitely relates to both characters, “And I think that most women will relate to pieces of each one of those characters. And that’s what I’m really hoping for.”

  Nyla also said that now that production of the film has wrapped, she has a wonderful, experienced, super-talented film editor, originally from Egypt, and she expects that it will take “about a month, if we’re really good about it,” to edit the film. “We really want to catch the film festival season, which starts about April/May, so that we can take it to all women-centric festivals, all Muslim-centric festivals, all Florida festivals, hopefully some international festivals and some of the major festivals that we will do our best to get into. We’re excited about pushing the story and getting as many people as possible to experience this film.”

Nyla also has a nonprofit film production company called NY/LA Productions, which is, “a female-driven, female-centric production company which produces and promotes films with female and Muslimeen (female Muslim) voices. “We look for funding from federal and local grants, as well as local donors,” she said. “We just received an $8,000 grant from a nonprofit charity called ‘200 Muslim Women Who Care,’ which is based here in Tampa Bay.”

She also noted that NY/LA Productions also promotes, produces and develops “projects in the making, finished projects that need to be promoted, and invite audiences to view them.”

Nyla also mentioned working with a University of Florida professor named Iman Zawahry, who directed “Americanish,” a 2021 feature film that NY/LA Productions helped bring to the Tampa Theatre for a screening with about 400 people who attended, “and ‘Americanish’ has been acquired for release by several screening services, which is really great for them,” Nyla says. “Iman’s been a great mentor for me and other young and aspiring filmmakers.” 

She added, “We do often get scripts sent to us and we see if they fit what we’re trying to do. And, if they’re in line with our ideas and goals, we are happy to help.” 

As for how “American Fabric” will be distributed, Nyla said, “Short films are tough for distribution, but there are now some streaming services that will acquire short films, including WeShort and Hollywood Just4Shorts, to get short films to a greater audience. HBO does acquire some shorts and we will try our best to find a place to distribute it. Otherwise, I’m sure we can find somebody to acquire us for a streamer. And, there’s always YouTube and Vimeo. The film also will be available to anyone who goes to our website, NY-LA-Production.org.”

As for how this married, busy mom-of-two gastroenterologist finds the time for the film business, she says, “I don’t know, midnight-4 a,m.? When you have a passion for something, you find the time. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?”

Update – Morris Bridge Rd. Has Reopened!

Although, as of the day this issue went to press, Morris Bridge Rd. between Cross Creek Blvd. and S.R. 56 was still closed (as it has been since Hurricane Milton blew through our area on Oct. 9-10), based on my conversations with more than one Hillsborough County Sheriff ’s Office (HCSO) deputy on duty at the Hillsborough side of the closure, the road itself and a storm drain in that segment were both damaged by the storm. 

The second deputy I spoke with said that despite reports that the road would reopen by sometime between Oct. 30-Nov. 4, he had no idea when the storm drain repairs would be completed or how long that segment of Morris Bridge Rd. would remain closed (top photo). 

K-Bar Ranch residents who normally take Morris Bridge Rd. to work and/or take their kids to and from school were still being diverted away from Morris Bridge at our press time, but the hope here is that they would be able to resume using the two-lane roadway by the time this issue reached your mailbox, but there were no guarantees. Morris Bridge Rd. is already a dangerous place to drive because of people attempting to pass slower-moving vehicles, so please don’t make the situation worse by ignoring or attempting to move the barricades. 

Flatwoods Park Reopens, But… 

Speaking of damage from Milton, both entrances (at 18205 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. at 14302 Morris Bridge Rd.) to the Wilderness Conservation Park Flatwoods Site (aka “Flatwoods Park,” bottom photo) reopened on Oct. 25, even though other county parks along or off Morris Bridge Rd. in the Lower Hillsborough Wildlife Management Area — including Dead River Park and Trout Creek Conservation Park — remained closed at our press time. 

While Flatwoods Park itself is now fully passable along the 7-mile paved loop from Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and 8.25-mile loop from Morris Bridge Rd., park ranger Matthew Parejko said on Nov. 3 that many of the hiking and off-road biking portions of the park were “still not safe to use due to damage from Milton” nearly three weeks after the storm. 

A little south and east of Flatwoods, Morris Bridge Park (13630 Morris Bridge Rd.), best known for fishing along the Hillsborough River, also has reopened, although most of the areas closest to the river also remain unusable due to damage from Milton. 

For more information about Flatwoods and the other parks along Morris Bridge Rd., call (813) 426-5583. There is a regularly updated recorded message and the park rangers do return calls, too. 

Tampa City Council Approves Funding For K-Bar Park Design! 

As we reported last issue, K-Bar Ranch is getting a 60-acre City of Tampa park and one that District 7 Tampa City Council member (and New Tampa resident) Luis Viera (photo, left) has said he hopes will include a cricket pitch as one of its amenities. 

At that meeting with about 50-60 residents (most, but not all of whom live in K-Bar Ranch) on Aug. 7, Viera said that he hoped and expected that the funding for the design of the park to be included in the city’s Fiscal 2025 budget. 

Well, on Sept. 5, the City Council did approve the roughly $1 million needed for the park’s design upon first reading of the city’s budget and Viera is thankful not only for the item passing its first muster, but also for the support of District 67 State Representative and State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell (who also attended the resident meeting on Aug. 7). Leader Driskell wrote a letter (in the far right column) to the City Council members on Sept. 3 to let them know that she is “in strong support of the FY25 budget design money for the K-Bar Ranch Park.” 

Viera then went on his Facebook page to thank Driskell “for your advocacy in support” of the park design funding. “Rep. Driskell has been on the front line advocating not only for this park in the budget, but for a cricket component to this park…Thank you, Rep. Driskell for your advocacy for this budget item.” 

And of course, Viera also noted in his Facebook message that, “We have about 60 acres available — with a great deal of conservation space and a park, as well as potentially a fire-station long-term,” even though Tampa Fire Rescue Fire Chief Barbara Tripp has yet to express her support for a full fire station in K-Bar, at the park site or otherwise. 

At the Aug. 7 resident meeting, Brad Suder, the superintendent of the city’s planning design natural resources division, said that once the design money becomes available — most likely sometime in late November — the city will be able to hire a consultant to work with and the public participating in the design process could begin. The second reading of the budget is scheduled for Thursday, September 19 — or a couple of days (or so) after this issue arrives in your mailbox. 

City’s K-Bar Ranch Park Will Likely Include A Cricket Pitch 

K-Bar Residents Also Offer Suggestions Regarding Traffic, Safety, Lighting & Natural Preservation 

The planned City of Tampa park in the K-Bar Ranch community is adjacent to neighborhoods in the community, so the city will be including two access points (in purple) with a gate at the western entrance for neighborhood access & emergency use only to keep the park traffic coming in & out of the main (east) entrance only. See the map below for more information (Source: City of Tampa)

 District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera told a crowd of 50-60 people — most of whom were K-Bar Ranch residents — that he has been working to build a city park in K-Bar Ranch almost since the day he first took office in 2016. 

Viera hosted yet another of his ever-present New Tampa Town Hall meetings on Aug. 7 to discuss the park, which is located completely in K-Bar and which the city now has about $1 million in its fiscal 2025 budget for the park’s design. 

In addition to Viera, Brad Suder, the superintendent of the city’s planning design natural resources division, and city manager Heather Wolf-Erickson also were on hand, representing Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department. Co-hosting the meeting with Viera was Dist. 67 State Representative (and Florida House minority leader) Fentrice Driskell, who will try to secure some state funding for when the park is ready to be built. 

The meeting was held at the Mahadevia Education Center on Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., in the West Meadows community. 

“Now that we have the design in the budget,” Councilman Viera said, “the next step will be to get community’s input, to see what facilities the residents want to see included in the park.” 

One of the features Viera said was already being talked about being included in this park is a cricket field, “and now is the time to push for that issue.” 

To that end, many of the residents who attended the meeting were there in support of cricket, a sport that originated in England that is hugely popular not only in India, but with New Tampa’s sizable Indian population, which Viera said has been pushing him to include a regulation cricket pitch and facility in the K-Bar park’s design “basically since I was elected.” 

Among those in attendance were Nagesh Nayak and Prahlad Madabhushi, the president and managing director, respectively, of the Tampa Premier League (TPL), which currently is based at the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd., but which doesn’t have an actual cricket pitch. 

To start the discussion, Viera touted the $9- $10 million total he has gotten for recreation facilities in New Tampa since taking office eight years ago, including the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center, the expansion of the recreation facilities behind Liberty Middle School (working with the Hillsborough School District) and the City of Tampa All-Abilities Park. Viera said, “I couldn’t have done this without the help of these folks — Brad Suder and Heather Wolf-Erickson.” 

Wolf-Erickson said that designing a park is, “a long process that won’t get accomplished tonight, but when it’s built, that’s when it gets handed over to my team and we do the operations, to keep the park beautiful and packed, and handle the waiting lists and all that we do for the (city) parks here in New Tampa.” 

She added that, “The design phase is such fun, so I hope you all will sit back, relax and enjoy that design phase, but just realize that whatever you think (the park) is going to be, it’s going to be a hybrid of what everybody wants. That’s the beautiful part about it. It will represent the whole community.” 

Wolf-Erickson also said that Suder, who was involved in the design of every city recreation facility in New Tampa, also was responsible for the design of the Tampa Riverwalk downtown and so many other facilities city-wide. 

“Luis didn’t mention the New Tampa Nature Park (near I-75), but it is one of my favorite parks that I’ve designed,” Suder said, “but these are all labors of love. And, I’ve been working on the K-Bar park since 2012.” 

Suder added that the K-Bar park started out as a county-city cooperative. It was supposed to be in the northern portion of the community, “but we ran into some issues where we couldn’t accept what the developer wanted to give us. The county went to a different site and the [K-Bar] park went silent for a while. I knew K-Bar was building and building, but we were promised park land. We were originally only offered a donation of 15 acres with an option to purchase 15 more at market value. But ultimately, we were offered this 65 acres, which was originally a borrow pit, but because of the lakes that were dug in K-Bar, we ended up with hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of soil — and we tested every truckload of that soil — and we ended up with a suitable park site to start the design process.” 

What About Cricket? 

“We have heard that cricket is a very popular and desired amenity to have at this park for New Tampa,” Suder said. “The problem is that most of our parks don’t support the square acreage that’s needed for cricket. But, in this case, we believe we have the acreage to make it work in this park, along with the other needs that we hear about tonight.” 

He added, “Councilman Viera calls me a friend, but he did fight to get this going and I applaud him for that. And now, we’ve got it going.” 

Suder also noted that once the money for the park’s design becomes available and the city can hire a consultant to work with, “We will start the public participation process, so we can hear all of the elements the community wants — the community as a whole. It can’t focus only on K-Bar residents, but that is a part of the discussion.” He did say, however, that the design funds probably won’t be available until late November, or several weeks after the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. “Then, it will take several more weeks to hire the consultant. And, the actual design phase will likely take a little more than a year to complete.” 

Brad Suder (left) & Heather Wolf-Erickson of the City of Tampa attended the meeting to get input from the residents in attendance about the K-Bar Ranch park’s design at a Town Hall meeting on Aug. 7.

Viera noted that there is no money in the current city budget for construction of the park. “We really need that half-cent Community Investment Tax to continue,” Viera said. “That’s where the money to build the park would most likely come from.” 

Suder then mentioned that, “We envision asking for about $5 million, maybe a little bit more, in a couple of years, when the design process is done, for what will essentially be Phase 1 of the park.” 

And, even though the county had envisioned a sports megaplex, Suder said that with the new site, “We realized that a megaplex for sports probably isn’t the idea here, for many reasons — one is public safety, including concerns about getting fire rescue in there if anything happens and clogging up the roads with, say, 18 teams for a tournament. That just wouldn’t work — we don’t want that much traffic going through there.” 

So, Suder and his team came up with what he calls a “hybrid” model, “with one part neighborhood parks with passive uses like picnicking and enjoyment of nature, one part active, essentially sports, and a really nice playground for all of the families that live near here.” 

The fourth component of the park Suder said he envisions is conservation. 

“A lot of this property is old pasture land for cows, and we hope to add a lot of trees, with walking trails, to make something really nice.” 

Viera then asked Prahlad Madabhushi to speak about cricket, “because Tampa is a very pluralistic city and the fact that we have many people asking for cricket speaks to that. And, the fact that the HOAs and CDDs in New Tampa are all supportive of it is another reason why New Tampa is so awesome.” 

Madabhushi first gave a brief description of cricket and its origins in England, dating back to the 16th century, that is similar to baseball, “and a lot of people love it. If you ever come to watch a game, you will fall in love with it, too.” 

Madabhushi also mentioned that with Florida’s climate, “We can play 11 or 12 months a year, which you can’t do in the northeast and other places.” 

He also said that the TPL that he and Nayak run also has hosted tournaments, with players even coming from other countries to play, “Which could really put New Tampa on the map.” 

Several of the K-Bar residents in attendance mentioned that they hoped the cricket pitch at the K-Bar park would not be used for tournaments, because of the neighborhood safety and traffic concerns Suder had mentioned. 

Wolf-Erickson asked about what the needs would be to have the “proper” cricket pitch Madabhushi talked about during his presentation. 

He said that the total size needed for one field would be about five acres. “If you can imagine two full-size football fields next to each other and draw a circle around it, that’s the size of a cricket pitch, Madabhushi said. “Soccer could be played there when it’s not being used for cricket. If you have enough flat ground and possibly lights, that would work.” 

Having lights for playing cricket at night was a concern for some of the K-Bar residents. 

But, Suder countered that the LED lights being used in new facilities being constructed today would not shine into the nearby houses. 

K-Bar Ranch Homeowners Assn (HOA) president Patrick Leduc said that his community does support cricket at the park, “but if you could keep it low-density, without lights and without fencing it in, that would be fine. I think a fitness track around the outside would work. The thing that’s unique about this piece of land is that it’s open. There’s actually an absence of trees, which I call ‘Big Sky Country.’ You could widen the lake out there and use the dirt to make hills for the fitness track for kids to ride bikes and skateboards. I think it could be a unique place in the city’s park system.” He also noted that his ideas came from HOA discussions, “I didn’t come up with them myself.” 

State House minority leader Fentrice Driskell (4th from left) and Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera (5th from left) were joined for a picture by local residents interested in adding a cricket field to the city’s planned park in K-Bar Ranch.

Leduc also mentioned that it would be important to control ingress and egress, especially at dusk. “All of the communities near the park are gated except Bassett Creek,” he said. “So, we’d like it if you could gate it and keep the ‘look’ of the park entrance similar to the community’s gated entrances.” He also said that if the lake could be widened and allow fishing, since no fishing is allowed at other lakes and ponds in the community, “I think the kids who live here would love it.” 

One K-Bar resident, who said his home backs up to the park, said he appreciates that the park will be low-density because of the nature and animals that are out there now. 

“I can look out at that property and see bald eagles and 20 deer at a time,” he said. “That is so special in an area that is growing so quickly. It needs to be preserved.” 

Another resident asked about the possibility of tennis or pickleball courts being included at the park, but Leduc said that K-Bar is getting pickleball at its Amenity Center, “and we want there to be a synergy between what we have in K-Bar and this city park.” 

Other residents expressed concerns about the traffic, but Viera promised that before the design is improved, Tampa’s Mobility Dept. will be brought in to assess the ways to control the traffic at the park. “That’s all a part of this process.” 

Suder added, “The signage will emphasize the main entrance (see map above), so that the other entrance will be for residents and emergencies only.” 

And, although she spent most of her time at the meeting just listening, Rep. Driskell aid, “We will get this project over the finish line together.”