Looking For Road Relief?

NEW TAMPA - The city of Tampa could build the long- awaited East-West Road for about $50 million. Or it could pay as much as $120 million. Or somewhere in between. Or not build it at all.
The answer, and ultimate price tag, will be determined by the highway's design. The public will get its first look at eight possible choices 5 p.m. Tuesday during a workshop at Freedom High School, 17410 Commerce Park Blvd.

Engineers already have decided on a route that connects New Tampa Boulevard to Interstate 275. Now, they must decide how to design the road and highway interchange. Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club of Tampa Bay, are pushing for the more expensive option that includes nearly two miles of bridges across the Cypress Creek preservation area.

``The major problem with this is the cost,'' city traffic engineer Mahdi Mansour said. ``The road alone would cost $58 million.''

The least expensive option - filling in much of the wetlands and building a short bridge over the creek - would cause severe environmental damage, Mansour said. So the city's traffic department also will consider a design that shortens the cumulative length of bridges by a half-mile and saves about $12 million.

The Sierra Club has opposed the East-West Road, but conservation committee Chairwoman Lynn McGarvey said the group would drop its opposition if the city opts for the longer bridge. Anything less, and ``We will have serious objections,'' she said.

Cypress Creek is a tributary of the Hillsborough River, Tampa's primary source of drinking water. The recommended corridor is home to deer, bobcats, coyotes, gopher tortoises, wild hogs and many bird species, including wood storks.

McGarvey said the road design also needs to include wildlife crossings over dry land.

Various types of highway interchanges - diamond, trumpet and directional - also range in cost from $10 million to $32 million each, based on the design. All of the designs include four-way interchanges, but Mansour said it's unlikely the road will be built with access ramps to and from the north.

Tuesday's meeting will be the first of two public workshops next week to discuss options for two of New Tampa's most costly and controversial road projects.

Bruce B. Downs Boulevard

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Department of Transportation will host a public hearing at Benito Middle School, 10101 Cross Creek Blvd., regarding Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. During the meeting, DOT engineers will make a formal recommendation to widen the road to eight lanes in Hillsborough County and six lanes in Pasco County.

The recommendation reserves a 20-foot-wide swath as right of way for a future light- rail system. The center median would be reduced from 46 feet to 30 feet and would be replaced with concrete barriers at intersections to accommodate left-turn lanes. It includes a 5-foot-wide sidewalk to the west side of the road and a 10- foot-wide bike path to the east.

Costly Right Of Way

The cost, originally estimated at $68 million, is now projected to be more than double that amount. DOT engineers have added $100 million to the projected cost because the county will have to pay top dollar for real estate along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to build stormwater retention ponds. The ponds are needed because the project would double the amount of paved roadway.

``We considered the worst- case scenario, which is that the county would have to use eminent domain to acquire the property,'' said Ming Gao, project manager for FDOT. ``The retention ponds are the most expensive part of the project. They're going to cost more than the project itself.''

The Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners allocated $25.5 million from Community Investment Tax dollars for the widening project; and the Florida DOT is contributing another $15 million. But combined, those dollars will barely cover the cost of completing one of Hillsborough County's four segments.

Hunters Green resident Jim Davison, a founder of the New Tampa Transportation Task Force, said residents should be outraged at the skyrocketing cost of the project.

``When they estimated the cost of widening the road, they never considered that they would have to pay to buy property for the retention ponds,'' he said. ``They made an $80 million mistake.''

Davison said Pasco County probably will finish widening Bruce B. Downs Boulevard from the county line to State Road 54 before Hillsborough County begins construction south of the county line.

``Things are going to get worse here before they get better,'' Davison said.

Gao said the 1.89-mile segment from Palm Springs Boulevard to Richmond Place Drive appears to have the highest demand, based on traffic counts. Segment B, as it was labeled during the engineering study, would include the interchange with Interstate 75. The FDOT plans to build a flyover ramp at the interchange, from southbound Bruce B. Downs Boulevard onto southbound I-75, in 2007.

Pedestrian bridges are planned for three locations on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard: at the intersection with Tampa Palms Boulevard, the entrance to Flatwoods Park and at Wharton High School.


LB:

LB: ROADWORK

LB: East-West Road workshop

WHEN: 5 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: Freedom High School, 17410 Commerce Park Blvd.

LB: Bruce B. Downs Boulevard hearing

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Benito Middle School, 10101 Cross Creek Blvd.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 977-2854.