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Residents Sound Off On Traffic Calming

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By HAROLD VALENTINE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 28, 2008

CARROLLWOOD - Carrollwood Village residents have plenty to say regarding traffic-calming measures under way in their neighborhood.

The calming measures stem from a comprehensive plan to calm traffic throughout the community and Original Carrollwood, which saw measures implemented in previous months. The county has invested $4 million on the various speed tables, humps, bumps, feedback signs, raised intersections and other measures to slow and reduce traffic in both communities.

Village resident Terry McLaughlin, who said he is a lifetime resident of Tampa, wrote to the Carrollwood News & Tribune that county leaders have known for several years that traffic was dramatically increasing, and the current solution of speed bumps and the like are mere "Band-aids" on a serious problem.

McLaughlin thinks vital arterial roads such as South Village Drive and Casey Road, which connect to Ehrlich Road, North Dale Mabry Highway and Gunn Highway, could see denser traffic because of a slow flow set by calming. He added money should have been invested in law enforcement along the roads rather than road structures.

"If the county's ultimate goal is to achieve adherence to the speed limit," McLaughlin wrote, "law enforcement is by far the most practical and cost effective method."

McLaughlin said he thinks residents did not have enough say in the calming because many people don't have time to go to public meetings, and wrote that a residential vote should have been needed for the calming measures.

County spokesman Steve Valdez said Hillsborough commissioners called upon county staff to create a comprehensive plan to slow traffic in both neighborhoods after hundreds of complaints, as well as plans for more commercial development. Commissioners agreed upon the plan to calm traffic that is under construction, which did not involve a vote by residents in either neighborhood.

Valdez said there were four public meetings to discuss traffic calming, with hundreds of signs put up along Carrollwood roads for each meeting.

Lorna Michaelson, another Village resident, adamantly opposes the calming measures.

"Before I bought in the Village, there was another home I was interested in," Michaelson wrote to the News & Tribune. "The main reason I did not buy it was because I would have had to drive over seven speed bumps each way on a daily basis."

She thinks the calming measures may make it more difficult to sell homes in the Village.

Valdez said residents should wait until the projects for both communities are complete, and then judge the effectiveness of the measures.

Village resident Linda Cantor called to ask about raised crosswalks and other pedestrian amenities included in the plan. She said walking along her neighborhood's streets with her husband can be dangerous.

"We've nearly been run over numerous times as people fail to stop at the crosswalks," Cantor said.

A map on the county's Web site details what measures are being taken on each street and can be found at www.hillsboroughcounty .org/publicworks/traffic/ resources/publications/ cwsubarea2plan.pdf. Residents of Original Carrollwood may be interested in their community's map, found at www.hillsboroughcounty .org/publicworks/traffic/ resources/publications/ origcwmasterplan.pdf.

Traffic-Calming Meeting

A public meeting with the county to discuss traffic-calming on Sagebrush Road in Northdale is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 7 at Northdale Park, 15550 Spring Pine Drive.

Roadwork

In Westchase, Keating Drive, between Middlebury and Wordsworth drives, is undergoing curb and gutter work between rush hours until July 25.

•On Henderson Road between Linebaugh and Waters avenues, railroad repairs will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until July 11. A detour connects Linebaugh Avenue to Anderson Road to Waters Avenue.

•In Town 'N Country, WestIdlewild Avenue, from Axelrod Road to Southern Comfort Boulevard, will have curb and gutter work between rush hours until Aug. 8.

•On North Gunlock Avenue, between N. Glen Avenue and West Paris Street, curb and gutter work is being done from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until July 25.

•On Wilshire Drive, from West Henry Avenue and Webb Road, curb and gutter work will be done between rush hours until Aug. 8.

•In Citrus Park, road improvements continue on Gunn Highway between Keystone Crossing Boulevard and Hixon Road until Aug. 29.

•In Carrollwood, Carroll Cove Place, between Shore Place and Boot Lake Circle, curb and gutter work is being done between rush hours until July 25.

On McFarland Road, from Lacewood to Paldao roads, raised crosswalks are being installed from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Aug. 22.

On Paldao Road, between Valencia and McFarland roads, curb and gutter work occurs between rush hours until July 31.

On Pine Meadow Court, curb and gutter repair will continue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Aug. 14.

On Thornbrook Place, between Greenmoor Drive and Armenia Avenue, curb and gutter replacement work is being done between rush hours until Aug. 14.

On Carrollwood drive, from Picwood to Valencia roads, gutter work is going on from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Aug. 1.

•On Marjorie Avenue between West 127th and124th avenues, stormwater improvements continue in between rush hours until July 18.

TRAFFIC CONCERNS?

Are there local traffic or road issues that concern you? Construction projects you wonder about, or hazards other drivers should know about? If so, contact reporter Harold Valentine at (813) 865-1526 or hvalentine @tampatrib.com.

Reporter Harold Valentine can be reached at (813) 865-1526 or hvalentine@tampatrib.com.

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