Although there didnโt 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 thatย Brookron 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 โ which he described as โa motley (collection) of patches, ridges and depressions, with a new pothole opening every weekโ โ 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 โ22. โBut, I am very pleased that I was able to get that road reclassified from local to a connector road,โ Hagan said. โSo now, Iโve got that road funded for fiscal year 2019, which begins in October. Iโll do everything I can in October and November next year to have that road resurfaced. I think thatโs pretty good news.โ
The countyโs public works department said the estimated cost of resurfacing Brookron Dr. is $500,000.
Areas like these, which have been patched over multiple times, are a common sight on Brookron Dr. in New Tampa, and there are many parts of the road that still need patching. (Photo: John C. Cotey)
Is Brookron Dr. falling apart?
The one-mile circular local road โ which is located off Cross Creek Blvd. (across from the entrance to Cory Lake Isles) and winds itself past the Pinehurst, Magnolia Trace, Meadow Creek and Creekwood neighborhoods of Cross Creek to Kinnan St. โ looks in certain parts as if it is being held together by patches of black asphalt.
Lots of patches.
In fact, more than 50 patches, and dozens of other cracks and dips in the 18-year-old road, which is used by most of the Cross Creek II communityโs 1,236 households, as well as by residents of the Addison Park and Andover Place apartment communities.
With the county willing to put up $250,000 to connect Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd., at least one local resident wants to know why repaving what is a heavily-trafficked stretch of road isnโt also on the list of county road projects that need to be done.
โIt is appalling that Hillsborough County Commissioners would approve $250,000 to build the Kinnan-Mansfield connector, while Brookron Drive in New Tampa, a connector from Kinnan to Cross Creek, is worse than many a third-world road,โโ wrote Pinehurst resident Sasenarine Persaud to county commissioners last month.
Persaud went on to describe the road as, โa motley (collection) of patches, ridges and depressions, with a new pothole opening every weekโ in his email.
โIt has not been resurfaced in eighteen years โ yes, 18 years! There is no justification for the county allocating $250,000 to build a road that would primarily benefit residents in another county, while neglecting roads in its own county.โ
District 5 County Commissioner Ken Hagan does not disagree that the road, which he has traveled often as a former resident of Creekwood, is in some disrepair. โWeโre aware of it,โโ Hagan says. โIt has been patched far too many times. Iโve seen it for myself. It certainly has deficiencies.โ
Mike Williams, the countyโs director of transportation planning and development, says, simply, โItโs a money issue.โ
Williams acknowledges that the county has fallen behind on road maintenance due to lack of funding, but notes that they are slowly catching up on repairs, after the commissioners agreed in 2016 to set aside $600 million over 10 years for projects that focus on safety improvements, road widening and resurfacing and sidewalk maintenance.
Brookron Dr., however, is not on that list. But, Hagan says he is going to look into getting it included. โWeโre trying to have that road reclassified from local to collector, to help accelerate the resurfacing of (Brookron),โ Hagan says.
The estimated cost of resurfacing Brookron Dr. is $500,000, according to the countyโs public works department.
Gary Mosby, who works in the countyโs customer resolution unit, confirmed that Persaudโs complaints about the condition of Brookron Dr. are shared by others. He said there have been several complaints about the road, and that an engineer has been dispatched to do a full inspection of it.
He said that since the beginning of the year, the county has received at least eight emails requesting potholes be repaired.
He also says that most of the emails come from Jo-Ann Pilawski, the head of property management for the Cross Creek II community,
โI keep calling them every time we go over a pothole,โโ Pilawski says. โEvery time Iโm talking to one of residents, they will mention how bad it is and ask if they are doing any kind of repaving. When I email the county, they just keep coming out and filling the potholes. Everybody is definitely not happy about it.โ
Although there didnโt 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.
