Hey, seemed like a good idea, especially when I read this - thank God, they are starting to understand:

LATEST NEWS
3:40 PM EST Thursday
Bay area mayors urge partnerships
Carl Cronan
Public-private partnerships will be required in years to come for the sake of continued economic development in the Tampa Bay area, mayors of the region's three largest cities said Thursday.

"The government didn't redevelop downtown St. Petersburg, and the government ultimately will not redevelop Midtown. We need the community to do it," St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker told commercial real estate leaders during a luncheon at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort.

Baker was joined by Mayors Pam Iorio of Tampa and Frank Hibbard of Clearwater during a panel discussion of regional issues. While all three generally agreed that redevelopment and infrastructure upgrades are necessary to the Bay area's future, they had varying opinions as to who should do it and pay for it.

Iorio said transportation will be a key issue for the area in years to come, specifying that a mass transit system should be developed to better connect Tampa and St. Petersburg.

"We need to find a way to make that happen for future generations," Iorio said, adding that the equation should include a light-rail system proposed in Hillsborough County.

Other means of alleviating traffic congestion in the Bay area need to be explored more seriously than highway and interstate expansion, Hibbard said.

"Adding lanes to solve traffic problems is like loosening your belt to solve obesity," Hibbard said, drawing applause from the audience of about 200.

While Baker disagreed with his colleagues that gasoline taxes should be raised to pay for transportation improvements, he noted that affordable housing is needed to attract employees to the area. He said residential development should be geared more toward working families than rich retirees.

The second-annual luncheon was jointly hosted by local chapters of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the Building Owners and Managers Association, Commercial Real Estate Women and the Institute of Real Estate Management.

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2005/01/24/daily42.html?t=printable

Wow, it seems as though for the first time in a long time, the area has 3 reasonably competent and like-minded leaders in office at the same time.

Of course, since the bumblef*** county commisions still hold huge sway over both counties, I'm not holding my breath waiting for any progress. Poor Pam can't even get the BOCC to help her extend the trolley a whopping 300 yards.

I draw a litlte more hope because Jim Sebesta has that Tampa Bay commuter rail stuff up his sleeve which we heard about months ago... Him spearheading this with the Mayors support/approval might make things happen. Big MIGHT though.

But I think you said ti best, Jason... Not only are teh Commissioners incompentant dumbasses but they have proved in the past they believe Tampa Bay is seperate but equal and there planning continues along those lines -- seperate transit systems, seperate developement, seperate airports, etc.... (oh how bad has Pinellas screwed up with going ahead with 225 million in works for St. Pete / Clearwater when they barely have a single carrier any more)

^I agree with you about the airport, even though some others don't. Pinellas County is royally screwing up if they spend that money. It's been made pointedly clear that the only airlines that succeed at STP are carriers running CHEAP prices. Prices so cheap in fact that no carrier can survive. The carriers (charters mostly) that have tried to run fares in a more sustainable price bracket have been utterly drubbed by TIA and ORL for years.

of course, what's even worse is that they aren't just pissing away $225m on STP. They also have to spend another $30-75m on Whitted as well over the next decade... Leaving Whitted open is the dumbest thing St Pete and Pinellas have done since they built the Dome. Considering the loss of revenue from land sales on Whitted, and then the tax revenues on new construction there for the next 20-30 years, these two decisions will actually cost Pinellas property owners an easy half BILLION dollars (even with the cost of the water treatment plant issue at Whitted), all so a few retirees can drive 10 miles less to fly... dumb, dumb, dumb...

That half billion sure as shit could have helped build a rail transit system. Combined with the typical state and Fed funding, they definitely could have got a nice starter system.

^I agree with you about the airport, even though some others don't. Pinellas County is royally screwing up if they spend that money. It's been made pointedly clear that the only airlines that succeed at STP are carriers running CHEAP prices. Prices so cheap in fact that no carrier can survive. The carriers (charters mostly) that have tried to run fares in a more sustainable price bracket have been utterly drubbed by TIA and ORL for years.

of course, what's even worse is that they aren't just pissing away $225m on STP. They also have to spend another $30-75m on Whitted as well over the next decade... Leaving Whitted open is the dumbest thing St Pete and Pinellas have done since they built the Dome. Considering the loss of revenue from land sales on Whitted, and then the tax revenues on new construction there for the next 20-30 years, these two decisions will actually cost Pinellas property owners an easy half BILLION dollars (even with the cost of the water treatment plant issue at Whitted), all so a few retirees can drive 10 miles less to fly... dumb, dumb, dumb...

That half billion sure as shit could have helped build a rail transit system. Combined with the typical state and Fed funding, they definitely could have got a nice starter system.

I had to respond to this as I am a pilot in the tampa area. Whitted provides a lot money and jobs to the areas economy. The airport is also a reliever airport for PIE and TPA. Without SPG(whitted) the city would lose millions of dollars, not to mention lost money from planes arriving there. Most people that fly to SPG are there for downtown St. Pete. They would lose alot money from sales in the area. PIE airspace, believe it or not, is heavely congested already, mostly from General Aviation aricraft. It would get MUCH worse without SPG. Also, if they closed it down, the city would lose millions from the govt. The FAA will also take the city to court because of agreements to keep it open for X amount of years would be broken. These agreements are what give the city money for roads and airport improvenments. Finally, spirit airlines is moving from TPA to PIE. British Airlines is also rumored to be.

Like the construction, operation and maintainence of a rail system wouldn't provide even more jobs and an aven greater economic catalyst? The DT trolley has helped spur a couple billion dollars in new development already, and cost a whopping $58 million.

It's all about prioritizing, and going with what provides the "biggest bang for the buck"




and btw, as I strongly believe in a user fee type system, I am of the opinion that if airplanes need better facilities, then the people operating them should foot the bill.

Jason's got a stronger point there --

Being a pilot and havign those who work at WHitted are basically servicing those who use that airport. Not everday commuters but private users...

Rail doesn't just cater to a closed niche of users. It caters to the entire region in both developement options as well as congestion relief.

Matt, you talk about PIE's airspace being "Congested"? Look at the Northeast and try to tell me that the airspace here is congested...

One last thing about the city losing millions of dollars annually without WHitted -- they have been keeping the airport afloat with millions of dollars annually. Yoru bleeding either way.

It is true that the city recently took funding that they would supposedly have to give back (and quite a bit of it has been spent), but it is a small sum compared to what homeowners have to pay year in and year out to fund the airport.

Jason's got a stronger point there --

Being a pilot and havign those who work at WHitted are basically servicing those who use that airport. Not everday commuters but private users...

Rail doesn't just cater to a closed niche of users. It caters to the entire region in both developement options as well as congestion relief.

Matt, you talk about PIE's airspace being "Congested"? Look at the Northeast and try to tell me that the airspace here is congested...

One last thing about the city losing millions of dollars annually without WHitted -- they have been keeping the airport afloat with millions of dollars annually. Yoru bleeding either way.

Oh I definately agree we need rail! We need rail now! I am a BIG supporter of it! I just believe we shouldn't let developers take over that land. PIE's airspace( class D) is different than in the northeast or Tampa's (Class B). It is a different type of airspace all together catering to different equipment. SPG has 271 a/c operations a day, PIE has 566, TPA has 709, and JFK has 760. Imagine if all those planes that use SPG had to go use PIE instead. To put it in prospective, Indinapolis Intl has about 559 operations a day and jacksonville Intl has about 338. It would be an insane amount of traffic at PIE if SPG users had to us PIE instead! It is a very important reliever airport to the area. It is vital to the aviation community.

BTW I got all this operations data from airnav.com. If you have any aviation related questions, just ask :)

Matt

Private Pilot+Instrument rated and soon to be commercial rated

It still comes down to prioritizing. We're talking about public dollars here, and the difference between providing comfy digs for a few hundred flights a day, or something that would assist tens of thousands of commuters and those who can't drive.

Where did you hear that Spirit is moving?

I am pretty sure British airways will not move, though maybe a smaller UK carrier might go in there after they extend the runway.

Where did you hear that Spirit is moving?

I am pretty sure British airways will not move, though maybe a smaller UK carrier might go in there after they extend the runway.

Here is a link about the discussion of the airlines that are moving. It was in a SPTimes article.

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1927644/

I can tell you right now Matt the article didn't say that those airlines were considering the switch.

They made mention of WHICH AIRLINES HAD MONTH TO MONTH LEASES FOR GATES AT TIA. Which airliners could be courted by St. Pete / Clearwater. NOT tha they are considering the move.

Of course it was found as "Surprising" to some because the guy who originally reported the article didn't get his facts straight.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/28/Business/After_losing_main_car.shtml

Spirit Air isn't even listed in this article and odds are it has a long term lease at TIA as those with month-to-month leases are on that short list presented on the thread.

I can tell you right now Matt the article didn't say that those airlines were considering the switch.

They made mention of WHICH AIRLINES HAD MONTH TO MONTH LEASES FOR GATES AT TIA. Which airliners could be courted by St. Pete / Clearwater. NOT tha they are considering the move.

Of course it was found as "Surprising" to some because the guy who originally reported the article didn't get his facts straight.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/28/Business/After_losing_main_car.shtml

Spirit Air isn't even listed in this article and odds are it has a long term lease at TIA as those with month-to-month leases are on that short list presented on the thread.

Hmm...you might be right. Although the date of that article is a day earlier than the one compared to in the thread I mentioned. But you could be right. Just thought I would give you some info that has caused a stir in the local aviation community. Happy flying :)

http://netra.sptimes.com/2004/12/29/images/map.gif
DOT: Elevated road in Pinellas on firm footing
Supports for the Roosevelt Connector will be different from the troubled Crosstown Expressway.
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 29, 2004
CLEARWATER - The Tampa Bay area is getting yet another elevated highway.

Even before the elevated stretch of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa developed serious foundation and public image problems, the Florida Department of Transportation had completed the first stage of its own elevated road project, a connector that will tie the Bayside Bridge with Interstate 275 in mid Pinellas County.

When the project is finished, some time after 2010, it will create a route free of traffic lights from Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard all the way to Orlando and the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

But will anybody feel comfortable using it?

Extensive coverage of sinking supports under the 6-mile elevated section of the Crosstown have left some motorists saying they might never feel safe driving on that structure, no matter how often they're assured that repairs have made it safe. Others say they're not even sanguine about driving under the bridge where it hangs over ground-level lanes.

DOT officials say they're certain the Pinellas project won't have the same image problems because, for one thing, it bears little resemblance to the Crosstown beyond the fact that both are elevated.

The underground columns that support the Crosstown's above-ground pillars are single shafts of concrete poured around steel reinforcing bars, or rebar. Soil borings taken at the site of each of the Crosstown's 218 foundations told engineers the poured shafts would be sitting on soil and rock strong enough to support the weight of the bridge and its traffic.

The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority says the analysis of those borings was wrong in as many as 165 cases, though preliminary results of stress tests on some of the support structures indicate the problems might be less extensive, and repair costs might be less than the original estimate of nearly $80-million.

Nonetheless, DOT is using a different construction technique on the Pinellas project.

"The problem with a single shaft is that if it fails, the road fails, as we saw," said Dwayne Kile, head of design for DOT. "The designs we use are a little more conservative.

"Each above-ground column has multiple pilings beneath it, which creates redundancy. If one piling fails, there are plenty left to provide all the support the structure needs."

There can be as many as nine pilings - steel or reinforced concrete depending on soil conditions - below ground for each column above, Kile said.

There's also a difference in the way the supports are put into the ground. While the Crosstown's supports were poured in, the Roosevelt Connector's will be pounded in by pile drivers.

Workers count the number of blows it takes to drive a pile downward. In a hypothetical case, each blow might drop the pile by a foot as it goes through soft soil. When it reaches rock, it might take four or five blows to gain an inch. That, Kile said, is when you know it is imbedded in solid rock.

"Say we're doing a project that has five pilings in the ground to hold up one column above," he said. "Each piling has to give us the same level of resistence as the sister pilings around it. If we can't get that resistence, we move the piling until we do."

Then a concrete cap is put over the top of the pilings, and the above ground column is connected to the cap.

Each of the pilings is designed to hold 150 percent of its share of the load from above, so if one fails, the others can do the job easily, Kile said.

Ralph Mervine, interim executive director of the Expressway Authority, defends the decision to use poured foundations on the Crosstown project.

"Both techniques are sound and used widely," Mervine said. "One is not better than the other. When you design these projects, you examine all your options. Generally, you make a decision based on the most economical choice."

Kile doesn't disagree.

"There's nothing in this world that's perfect," he said. "The people who designed the Crosstown originally thought they had everything covered. They didn't. There's no guarantee that even more extensive (soil) testing would have found all the problems. If we always did the sort of extensive testing they're doing to check these pilings now, we'd never get anything built."

On the other hand, Kile said, he doesn't recall a single DOT project anywhere in this region that used poured single shafts.

"We looked at the technique in a couple of places, but there wasn't enough cost-benefit to make it worth doing," he said.

The connector, when complete, will start at the south end of the Bayside Bridge, follow Roosevelt Boulevard past St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, go due south past Ulmerton Road and 126th Avenue then turn east at 118th Avenue to the interstate. See map.

The first phase, linking 118th Avenue to the interstate, is done. Some left-turn lane work at Roosevelt and 49th Street N in connection with the project is under construction.

The road will be elevated coming off the bridge, going past the airport, over Ulmerton, 126th and 118th Avenues and to the interstate. Exactly where each elevation will begin and end has not been determined.

"It will be a way around a lot of congestion," Kile said. "I'm pretty sure people will use it."

Pinellas residents don't seem concerned about the safety of the Roosevelt Connector.

"There are problems with the expressway in Tampa and there are problems with the Memorial Causeway (bridge) in Clearwater, but I'm not concerned about them or about this new one," said Larry Silver of Palm Harbor, retired marketing director for Raymond James.

"I think engineers learn from these things," Silver said. "I'll drive the Crosstown once it's cleaned up, and I'll drive this new one. You have to assume they're not going to let people on it until they know - not assume - that it's safe."

Holly McVay of Safety Harbor says she is looking forward to the day the project is completed and open.

"I go to Orlando every weekend, and I think this is a wonderful idea," McVay said. "It doesn't bother me at all that it's elevated."

[Last modified December 29, 2004, 00:46:43]
http://netra.sptimes.com/2004/12/29/Tampabay/DOT__Elevated_road_in.shtml

Extensive coverage of sinking supports under the 6-mile elevated section of the Crosstown have left some motorists saying they might never feel safe driving on that structure, no matter how often they're assured that repairs have made it safe. Others say they're not even sanguine about driving under the bridge where it hangs over ground-level lanes.

Well, people like this should stay home then. They're probably the ones driving in the fast lane, riding their brake the whole time doing 45mph. Better yet, build some mass transit alternatives. The accident and injury rates are extremely low.

US HWY 19 PROJECTS --

http://www.myus19.com/images/project%20map.jpg

UNDER CONSTRUCTION --

Coachman Road Interchange:

http://www.myus19.com/images/sunset1_small.jpg
Recent View

http://www.myus19.com/images/Coachman_small.jpg
What it will look like when complete

Sunset Point Road Interchange:

http://www.myus19.com/images/sunset2_small.jpg
Recent View

http://www.myus19.com/images/Sunset_small.jpg
What it will look like when complete

http://www.myus19.com/images/under%20the%20overpass.jpg
Overpasses designed to fit within current right-of-way

Also under construction is the Drew Street interchange, which is the furthest along, I believe. The link to the images wasn't working right.

FUNDED --

Conversion to limited access freeway from 49th Street N interchange to 120th Ave N interchange

http://www.myus19.com/images/cutaway.jpg
Overpass Section

http://www.myus19.com/images/110th%20avenue%20interchange%20B.jpg
View of overpass design

http://www.myus19.com/images/118th%20avenue%20interchange%20A.jpg
Another view of overpass design

http://www.myus19.com/images/110th%20avenue%20arial%20design.jpg
110th Ave N interchange plan

http://www.myus19.com/images/118th%20avenue%20arial%20design.jpg
118th Ave N interchange plan

Excellent find on the website

It's about damn time they do all this.

I don't like the deisgn of the 118th Ave interchange at all. They need to get rid of the lights as much as humanly possible. I don't care how many turn lanes they add, that will still get backed up and congested, unless there is a flyover for 118th traffic.

What is also needed very badly is the flyover for Gandy at 4th and MLK, and hopefully also the conversion of Gandy into limited access with frontage to the Gandy Bridge. And this conversion needs to go all the way to I-275, and preferably to US19.

you know - there are TWO bridges to the Island
Residents lose battle over city's traffic plan
The city decides to go ahead with work to reconfigure a stretch of Franklin Street despite protests from homeowners.
By SHERRI DAY
Published February 4, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


In an ongoing dispute that pitted Harbour Island homeowners against city planners, the residents have conceded defeat.

Harbour Island homeowners opposed the city's plan to improve the flow of traffic leading into their community, saying the proposal favored pedestrians, tourists and conventioneers. But ultimately, the residents' protests accomplished little.

At a public hearing last month, city officials pledged to go forward with their plans to reconfigure the lanes in front of the Tampa Convention Center at the base of the Harbour Island bridge. Franklin Street's facelift begins Monday.

"The city did not want to hear a thing about the residents' concerns," said Dave Schlingman, president of the Harbour Island Community Service Association, which says it represents more than 4,000 residents. "Their vision is that we don't need to worry about taking some traffic lanes away because we're going to make it a pedestrian-friendly city, and we don't need to provide for automobiles. Well, we do."

At issue is the stretch of Franklin Street between Channelside Drive and St. Pete Times Forum Drive. Residents say the city's proposal, which includes removing one southbound lane and adding a northbound lane, would result in a traffic nightmare.

Islanders blame the TECO line streetcar, which stretches from Ybor City to Franklin Street, for their traffic woes because the neighborhood lost a lane to the trolley track. Any extension of the streetcar line would further complicate traffic patterns, residents said.

Steve Daignault, the city's public works administrator, said Harbour Island homeowners' concerns are unfounded. And, he said, residents' voices have been heard. When the residents complained about adding a traffic light along Franklin Street next to the Waterside Marriott, city officials decided to scrap it - as long as traffic doesn't go up at the intersection.

"It's not going to be nearly as bad for them . . . as they're trying to make it out to be," Daignault said. "I believe it's going to satisfy or actually improve some of their traffic flow."

Instead of the traffic light, officials now envision a center median that would help pedestrians safely cross the street. They also plan to reconfigure Franklin Street's existing medians to create two traffic lanes on each side.

City officials expect the $300,000 project to take between 60 to 90 days to complete.

John G. Moors, the Tampa Convention Center's administrator, supports the city's plan.

"The number one thing we have to do is protect the pedestrians and slow the traffic down," Moors said. "These improvements are going to help that."

Harbour Island resident Joyce Schauer said she and her neighbors may have lost the Franklin Street battle, but they gained a commitment to activism.

"This is a sleeping giant," said Schauer, the association's spokeswoman. "And you probably know some of the people who live on the island. Once we get rolling, the city is going to hear us roar."

Sherri Day can be reached at 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 3, 2005, 10:01:08]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/04/Citytimes/Residents_lose_battle.shtml

these people are my Nieghbor's, But God Damn, I hate these assholes!

Quote:"This is a sleeping giant," said Schauer, the association's spokeswoman. "And you probably know some of the people who live on the island. Once we get rolling, the city is going to hear us roar."

What kind of snobbish, dumbass remark is that?? Oh We have money so our opinion is betters than other people's

I can't wait to move off this island.

But I will make a shit load of money off of it!! :banana2:

I wish all of those people would just shut the fuck up and move to New Tampa, isolated where they belong. Arrgghhh!

Am I the only person who thinks they build flyovers in the wrong direction?

Why don't the other roads fly over 19 with overpasses? I wouldn't think it's engineering becuase they pull this off splendidly in other parts fo the country....

Probably because there is not enough space to get a good run-up before you need the actual bridge. 19 has much more space - especially with access roads when you take out the median.

All I know is the flyover plan for the US19-118th intersection is a horrible design. I have to wonder if the engineers who designed that segment have ever even been on the road...Because if they have, they would know that the traffic using 118th-Bryan Dairy to commute is already quite congested during the rushes, and gets worse and worse every year. By providing flyovers as much as possible on 118th/Bryan Dairy, that provides another quick E-W corridor in Mid-Pinellas, which would provide considerable relief for the Ulmerton and Gandy/Park Blvd corridors...More importantly, the development along 118th/Bryan Dairy is such that expansion of that road should be quite affordable, because there would be little to no destruction of existing development to accomodate the flyovers and frontage. (whereas any further expansion of Park or Ulmerton will result in a shitstorm of problems)

They should buy up some land and don a damn cloverleaf, for God's sake. Quit messing around.

Yeah, I think the US 19/118th Ave N interchange should be more of a "superinterchange" with no stoplights at all. Or at least design it so E-W through traffic doesn't have to stop. It would require more bridges, but traffic would flow so much better.

So what are the thoughts on the Pinellas County Aviation Authority and synchronization between TIA and St. Pete Clearwater?

I find Sebesta's plan full of a little too much Beauracracy and the fact is HCAA once proposed a merger of sorts between the two airports and Pinellas flat out rejected it (if I could find the article...)

The idea of sharing the load is good but at the same time - creating more red tape to get things done isn't that great.

I find it silly. Why should they mix. TIA has unused space and a long term plan that makes sense. Why mess with a good thing? Focus on the train and roads. That airports work fine. St. Pete will get some discount airline and TIA will keep growing.

I don't agree with that, and especially because they are closer to building asecond terminus at TIA which will hinder Airport growth until completion.

TIA cna keep growing but it does get shitty when things are busy -- the holidays and such.

Why mess with a good thing? It could be even better - that's why. Clear up some of the glut of air travel at TIA by sharing the load.

TIA doesn't need to shed business, they simply need to accelerate the schedule of expansion, which is something they are pretty much in the process of doing. There is a new garage under construction, and a new airside going up. When those two projects are done, yet another garage and airside will go up shortly thereafter.


And one thing about the airport's expansion with a new terminal to the north of the existing one... I wonder if the road coming in from Hillsborough Ave would finally connect to the access road coming from the south, thus allowing drivers another way to access the Westshore area.

Routine day brings surprise, then prize
A Harbour Island woman was headed to work, then learned she was the streetcar's 1-millionth rider - sort of.
By ELISABETH DYER, Times Staff Writer
Published February 11, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


For Ingrid Potoczny, Tuesday was her lucky day.

Like most days, Potoczny, 35, left her home on Harbour Island for her job in Ybor City at the Columbia Restaurant's cigar shop.

Upon arriving at the TECO streetcar station at the Southern Transportation Plaza, she thought nothing of the crowd until cameras pointed at her and HARTline officials announced she was the 1-millionth person to ride the streetcar.

"It's awesome. I ride almost every day," said Potoczny upon receiving a basket of gift certificates for businesses along the streetcar route and a piece of cake.

Among her prizes: a streetcar pass good for a year.

Ingrid and her husband, Tony, are frequent riders for both work and pleasure. "We like the urban life," she said.

Tampa's historic streetcars returned Oct. 19, 2002, after rolling to a stop in 1946. Potoczny, who doesn't drive, has been riding from the beginning.

Logging 1-million riders in just over two years is above projections, said Michael English, president of Tampa Historic Streetcar Inc., the nonprofit that oversees the system.

"We knew it would be attractive to visitors and it is, and it's increasingly attractive to people who live and work along the line," English said.

Streetcars carry about 1,200 people on weekdays, more than 3,200 on Saturdays and about 1,000 on Sundays, said HARTline spokeswoman Jill Cappadoro.

Generally, four cars run at a time. More are added for special events, such as Gasparilla, which this year generated 7,700 rides, and New Year's Eve, which had a record 9,037 rides.

Next for the streetcar: a proposed extension of the line from the Southern Transportation Plaza in front of the Tampa Marriott Waterside along Franklin Street north to Whiting Street.

The extension would help serve and promote increased residential and retail activity on Franklin, English said.

The actual millionth customer slipped on board uncounted sometime over the weekend, but HARTline officials wanted to organize the celebration and targeted a loyal rider as the winner.

Potoczny was happy to receive the distinction. She especially looks forward to using the certificate to Big City Tavern in Ybor City. Of course, she'll get there on the streetcar.

Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 10, 2005, 11:48:06]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/11/Citytimes/Routine_day_brings_su.shtml

TIA doesn't need to shed business, they simply need to accelerate the schedule of expansion, which is something they are pretty much in the process of doing. There is a new garage under construction, and a new airside going up. When those two projects are done, yet another garage and airside will go up shortly thereafter.


And one thing about the airport's expansion with a new terminal to the north of the existing one... I wonder if the road coming in from Hillsborough Ave would finally connect to the access road coming from the south, thus allowing drivers another way to access the Westshore area.

See, this I disagree with. This is money being thrown out to one airport when you have a totally viable second airport.

Why Is St. Pete Clearwater such a shady option too coordinate with TIA? I have only flown out of it once so Ic an understand if that the Airport's quality makes you want TIA to be stronger than St. Pete/Clearwater, but at the same time it feels like falling int o the "Seperate but equal - not really" trap that Tampa/St. Pete are so known for (and that you've heard me bitch about before).

I think having both airports aligned under one regional governing body would help both sides fo teh bay and make both airports more efficient. Maybe it wouldn't delay the excellerated expansion plans of TIA but it might help distribute the excess glut that TIA faces every so often....

It's a waste of infrastructure, and why clutter the entire region's sky with air traffic? I know numerous people who live in the mid-county area who are none too pleased with the noise as it is now. TIA is nowhere near being a large or overburdened airport, and has plenty of space around it to more than double in size, if need be. Why risk hundreds of millions more expanding another airport, when TIA is already managed so well?

Pretty much on point there. Moreover, the distance between the two doesn't really justify it. They serve the same audience. They are too close - not like miami and Ft.L.

I like Sebesta, but this is a blatant Pinellas homer thing. He should get them rail transit - that would shame Hillsborough - and I would be behind him all the way.

Routine day brings surprise, then prize
A Harbour Island woman was headed to work, then learned she was the streetcar's 1-millionth rider - sort of.
By ELISABETH DYER, Times Staff Writer
Published February 11, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Ingrid Potoczny, Tuesday was her lucky day.


Hey, That's my wife!!!
We got some awesome gifts, though I thought since she was the 1 millionth customer we should have gotten 1 million dollars. :colgate:

^hehe... congrats, I guess. :)

When they built this thing (like everything else) they said it would be a white elephant:

Expressway tolls exceed forecast
Last year was a bad one for the Crosstown Expressway, but now it is back on track, physically and fiscally.
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published February 15, 2005

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TAMPA - Last year was a bad one for the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, what with the discovery that the ground under some portions of the new bridge wouldn't support the structure's weight.

Then there were those four hurricanes that prompted the state to suspend tolls on nearly all toll roads to ease coastline evacuations. That cost the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority $1.4-million in revenue.

But the Expressway Authority board got good news on both fronts on Monday. Construction on the elevated lanes of the road will resume in March with a target date for completion of midsummer.

All that lost toll revenue has been recouped.

"We've had a change in the mix of our customers," Brady Sneath, the Expressway Authority's chief financial officer, told the authority board Monday. "The dedicated SunPass lane in the west (downtown) toll plaza is attracting more people, and there is more through traffic now, which generates higher toll collections."

Toll revenue at the west plaza rose more than 25 percent last year over 2003, compared to a 12.7 percent revenue increase at the east plaza near 78th Street.

Ironically, some of the good financial fortune comes, Sneath said, because of erroneous projections of how many motorists would switch to SunPass, the electronic toll collection system that uses a windshield-mounted transponder.

It had been forecast that more than half the toll revenue on the road would come from SunPass collection, but it actually was only 48 percent. SunPass users don't pay the 25-cent increase in tolls that went into effect in March, but motorists who pay cash do. The fewer people using SunPass, the higher the Crosstown's revenue.

Toll revenue for January 2005, for example, was nearly $2.5-million, up nearly $460,000 from January 2004, when $2.1-million was collected. Similar increases were recorded for October, November and December after revenue fell during the two hurricane-clogged months of August and September.

[Last modified February 15, 2005, 01:15:09]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/15/Hillsborough/Expressway_tolls_exce.shtml

I don't know why people deride toll roads. If folks must keep building roads, at least build ones which are actually paid for by the people using them.

I concur completley. The new roads should all be toll roads.

I agree also Jasonhouse....IMO I don't have a problem having to pay $1 to cross the Skyway.

In Path Of Change
By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com
Published: Feb 21, 2005

http://tampatrib.com/MGBPSOV6G5E.html

TAMPA - Barbara McNish never dreamed she would live next to the water.

Instead of a scenic lake or bay view, however, her East 12th Avenue home of 34 years may face retention ponds collecting oily runoff from Interstate 4 and a proposed $414 million highway linking it to the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

``I'll have waterfront property,'' McNish said recently.

She and a few other residents at the corner of 32nd Street have refused to sell their homes to the Florida Department of Transportation, which is busy acquiring land for the new road, the I-4/Crosstown Connector.

Once opened - construction isn't expected to start for at least five years - it will reroute trucks from the heart of Ybor City, 10 blocks west, and provide direct access to the Port of Tampa.

The highway department has spent $9.5 million in recent months buying land and paying relocation expenses to residents north of Seventh Avenue and east of the CSX railroad tracks parallel to 31st Street.

About two dozen property owners, including several real estate investors, have agreed to deals with the state.

But McNish, 59, and others didn't care for the department's offer in the low to mid- $100,000 range. The homeowners want twice or three times as much money.

They bet they can get more in court or by selling to private developers who may want to transform the area with hotels or other commercial projects.

``Maybe Donald Trump will come along and buy us out,'' said Billy Price, 72. ``We are not poor enough we have to give our property away.''

For now, the highway department reports it has redesigned the retention ponds around the homeowners.

By settling with willing owners, the state hopes to save money later by avoiding eminent domain proceedings in circuit court.

Such proceedings potentially increase costs as much as 40 percent, said Penny Anthony, the department's District 7 right-of-way manager.

``The more urban the area, the more attorneys there are,'' Anthony said. ``They get the word out to property owners: `Don't settle with DOT. We can get you more money through litigation.' ''

As many as 70 percent of the department's condemnation cases land in court, she said.

Added Cost

Florida pays more types of landowner costs settling condemnation cases than most states, including fees for attorneys, appraisers and accountants, adding millions of dollars to the taxpayers' tab for new roads and other public improvements.

About 25 percent of the Crosstown Connector budget is for right-of-way acquisition.

Wallace McDonald, 67, said he was pleased with the $92,000 check he received for the duplex he owned at 31st Street and 11th Avenue. The building was bulldozed, and the lot is empty.

McDonald couldn't coax the state to buy the house he lives in across the street, though.

``I don't like being left alone in this desolate corner,'' the 25-year resident said.

By law, the highway department is allowed to buy only land it can prove is needed for a road.

``Right now we are working from design plans as opposed to construction plans,'' Anthony said. ``These are the parcels we are absolutely sure of.''

Of the $9.5 million spent so far, about 61 percent has purchased property and 36 percent has paid relocation expenses, Anthony said. The balance has gone toward appraisal fees and administrative costs.

The department is just getting warmed up with connector acquisitions.

More than $103 million is budgeted for right of way in the mile-long stretch between the Selmon Expressway and I- 4, where $157 million is being spent to double the interstate to eight lanes.

Long History

Between the road work and house demolitions, the east Tampa neighborhood is disappearing in a cloud of dust. A yellow street-sweeping machine makes frequent passes through.

``It isn't really doing any good,'' McDonald said over the whoosh of bristles-on- pavement and the back-up beeps of dump trucks and other heavy equipment.

The neighborhood is predominantly black, with 57 percent of the houses occupied by renters, according to the 2000 census.

McDonald and others said the neighborhood often is troubled by drug dealing and prostitution.

``The police do a decent job, but they can only do so much,'' he said.

The Crosstown Connector came off the drawing boards more than 15 years ago and right-of-way notices soon arrived in the mail, creating a state of limbo.

``I wish they'd just go ahead and do it, so I can make some plans,'' machine shop owner Dick Warren told The Tampa Tribune in 1993.

He died four years later, leaving the business at 1906 N. 31st St., and the uncertainty, to his daughter and son-in-law, Robert.

``It was always in the air,'' said Janine Stark, a portrait of her dad on the office wall still keeping an eye on things. ``Appraisers would be walking around. You'd think it was going to be this year, then three or four years would go by and nothing would happen.''

The highway department says the connector was stalled as the state financed other road projects, such as interchange improvements near Tampa International Airport and the junction of interstates 4 and 275.

Advanced Acquisitions

Today's right-of-way costs for the connector are twice the original estimates, which the department said didn't include land for the retention ponds or added truck-only ramps.

This year, for the first time, the department has set aside $30 million statewide to acquire property before road projects are fully funded.

It's a drop in the bucket, but it could save district offices from raiding money for other projects to negotiate early right-of-way deals and eliminate some of the uncertainty that lingers in places like 31st Street.

Such advanced acquisitions can be good for property owners because they can get on with their lives, said attorney Mark Leavitt, who represents the Starks and another 31st Street business owner.

``But it's not always done the right way,'' he said.

Leavitt, a former chairman of the American Bar Association's Eminent Domain Committee, said highway department property assessments aren't always realistic.

When only a portion of property is needed for a road, he said, the state offers too few details about ``the nature of the new neighborhood'' once the project is completed.

There's another factor.

``DOT analysis doesn't include sentimental attachment,'' Leavitt said. ``It isn't always about the money. A family business is not far removed from a home.''

South Of Seventh

Acquisition of the Starks' machine shop and a dozen other parcels north of Seventh Avenue is being negotiated with the highway department. No land has been purchased in the industrial area south of the avenue.

``They should have done this years ago when property was cheaper,'' said Joe Mincher, owner of REM Air Conditioning of Tampa Inc. at 3012 E. Fifth Ave.

At Lifestyle Carpets, 3007 E. Seventh Ave., owner Peggy Snell Christy also is troubled by the uncertainty. Her warehouse needs a new roof, which could cost more than $150,000. ``I don't know if I've got one year or 10 years,'' Christy said. ``I can't sell. I can't move. I can't get financing. It really ties you up.''

Fifty people work at the warehouse. Fifty more are employed at Ivy Steel & Wire Co., the former National Wire plant, which has occupied 3 acres at 1314 31st St. since the 1950s.

Plant manager Jim Bellotti recalls hearing about the connector when he moved to Tampa 12 years ago.

``I absolutely, positively think it's going to happen,'' he said. ``More and more when you see what's happening in Ybor ... they need to get those trucks out of there. I don't know how much more it can stand.''

All three say they want their businesses to relocate in the nearby area so they remain convenient to loyal customers and close to the improved highway system.

Construction Years Away

Anthony says more detailed plans, identifying better which parcels are needed for the elevated connector, are expected by late next year.

Construction remains years away and is to be done in two stages. Highway department officials won't guess when the toll road will open.

Not everyone plans to leave the neighborhood even then.

Roger and Linda Henderson are putting finishing touches on the house they've built at 3102 E. Ninth Ave. The two city workers paid $14,500 for the vacant parcel in July and say the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house will take $180,000 to complete. They hope to move in next month with their son and two nieces.

Roger Henderson, 44, figures the highway would be a better view than the junkyard across the street.

``This house is planned to be passed on to my kids,'' he said.

Researchers Diane Grey and Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

An excellent visual display and description of the new I-275 from Howard Franklin to Ashley Street:

//mytbi.com/urs/content/design/linksstageii/#

It wasn't working for me. Maybe this will work.
http://www.mytbi.com/urs/content/design/linksstageii/

Man, they are taking out big chunks of nieghborhoods. My only hope is that they are putting those huge medians in for future mass transit.

knowing Florida, probably not TOny.... :(

The medians aren't for mass transit, they are just generalized ROW for something later. Odds of it being anything more than HOV lanes in the future is rather hopeless in this area.

^^^Yeah. I believe when this project was first publicized, the write-ups described the medians as designed to accomodate future road expansions or rail transit.

I think traffic will flow smoother through there with this design. The combination of high volume and too many interchanges too close together has created the traffic problems that exist now.

It also looks like they've designed for a new interchange at N. Boulevard. Maybe that will take some pressure off the Ashley Street interchange.

The new view on I-275: a vast bay of bumpers (http://sptimes.com/2005/02/28/Tampabay/The_new_view_on_I_275.shtml)

Commuters, companies and emergency workers are learning to live with ever-longer backups between Tampa and St. Petersburg.

By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published February 28, 2005

HOWARD FRANKLAND BRIDGE - The electronic sign flashes its ominous warning, "Congestion Ahead," and it seems premature.

After all, you've just crossed the Howard Frankland Bridge hump en route from St. Petersburg to Tampa, and you should have miles before you hit really heavy traffic.

You wish.

The painful truth is that from Monday to Friday, any time between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., you run the risk of hitting bumper-to-bumper backups that extend from the Frankland hump to beyond the Interstate 275 junction with Interstate 4. It's no longer a rush-hour phenomenon.

And coming the other way through Tampa, well, forget about it. From north of Fletcher Avenue to the Frankland, it can be a perpetual, crawling, terminally annoying nightmare.

And, for once, road construction might not be totally to blame.

"We really haven't done anything that would cause that," said John McShaffrey, the Florida Department of Transportation's spokesman for interstate construction. "There are some lane shifts out there, but all lanes are open."

Gerard Hoeppner, marketing director for Busch Gardens, has been making the 50-mile daily round-trip commute from St. Petersburg for six years.

"Going to Tampa I've been stopped on the bridge more in the last two months than ever before, and generally there's no apparent reason for it, like an accident," Hoeppner said. "At best, it has increased my commuting time from 45 or 50 minutes to an hour, and a week ago it took 90 minutes."

On northbound I-275, a new lane configuration at the merger onto I-4 near downtown contributes to the clog, but jams there have been a way of life for years and never backed up traffic all the way to the bridge. McShaffrey said current problems seem to be a confluence of events.

"This is the time of year when we see absolute peaks in traffic out there," he said. "You've got the start of (baseball) spring training, winter visitors flooding in and the state fair, followed by spring break and the strawberry festival. That puts a lot of people on the highway."

It also puts a lot of tempers on edge.

Ronda Brown commuted daily from Dade City in Pasco County on I-275 to her job in the business office of United Cabs in Tampa.

"When I make the drive, it's okay until I get to Fletcher (Avenue), and then it takes another 45 minutes to get to the Howard-Armenia exit," Brown said. "An awful lot of people don't want to let you in when you need to merge. They just ignore your blinker. So I said the heck with it, and now I drive like they do, forcing my way in where I need to go."

Going home at night, Brown would like to get onto northbound I-275 at the I-4 junction, but she uses Floribraska Avenue instead.

"If I tried to use the junction, I'd still be there the next morning," Brown said.

The backups are a hassle, too, for emergency vehicles, which often have to resort to the highway's narrow shoulders. It's worse for commercial vehicles with schedules because they're not permitted to use those shoulders.

FedEx, for example, bases its charges on a guarantee to get packages to their destinations by predetermined times.

"We plan for things like traffic jams in every city where we operate, whether it's Tampa or Paris or New York, whether the event is the Super Bowl or the Olympics or road construction," said Ed Coleman, spokesman for FedEx.

In Tampa, FedEx operates around traffic.

"Our big semis leave Tampa International Airport at 5:30 in the morning and don't return until late at night," Coleman said. "They offload at distribution centers where packages are transferred to smaller trucks that use city streets, not the interstates."

Many companies have detour contingencies that formalize alternate routes for commercial traffic in the event of construction or accident delays, and most cab drivers know city streets.

One local street that's not doing people much good these days is Kennedy Boulevard.

Many of the backups on the trip from St. Petersburg to Tampa start within sight of the Kennedy exit off the Howard Frankland Bridge. So many people are using that as an alternate route to Dale Mabry or downtown Tampa that it is carrying more than capacity traffic.

Manny Pumariega, executive director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, has commuted to the Gateway area of north St. Petersburg from Tampa for 24 years and has seen traffic grow steadily worse.

"Last fall I began to notice going home that traffic was backing up past West Shore, but some days now it's backing up to (the bridge) hump," Pumariega said. "This year is way worse than last year. Last year the peak evening hours were like 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Now it's 3:30 to 7, or later."

Pumariega, who lives in Carrollwood, gets off I-275 at Dale Mabry. He says he "can bank on it being bumper-to-bumper almost daily from the hump to the exit."

If the DOT's McShaffrey is correct, and the current traffic crushes are caused by a lot of simultaneous activities, then the jams should begin to ease late in April, when the spring breakers go back to school, winter visitors go home and the next phase of work at Malfunction Junction is complete.

While it will be another year until the entire project is done and open, a new ramp from westbound I-4 to southbound I-275 is scheduled for completion in April, with several other projects coming to an end in the months that follow. (See accompanying story.)

But some aren't convinced that there are better days ahead.

"I don't buy that it's mostly all those events happening at about the same time, like snowbirds," said Busch Gardens' Hoeppner.

"I see an awful lot of Florida plates sitting around me on the highway. I watch a lot of the traffic, northbound and southbound, and they aren't people on an outing. Almost all the cars have one person in them. They're commuters."

Hoeppner said he thinks most of the traffic is due to regional growth.

"Look at North Tampa, look at central Pasco," he said. "That's where a lot of the traffic is coming from."

But Hoeppner also takes the situation with good humor.

"Look, this is a great area to live, just wonderful, and lots of people want to be here," he said. "The traffic is our entry fee."

Road improvements on the way

By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published February 28, 2005

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The new interchange meshing Interstate 275 with Interstate 4 in Tampa is scheduled for completion in spring 2006. Here are the major improvements planned during the next year:

--The new ramp from westbound I-4 over I-275 will be completed in mid April. Traffic merging onto southbound I-275 from westbound I-4 will be separated earlier from traffic exiting to downtown Tampa on Jefferson and Kay streets.

--The Ashley Drive entrance ramp to northbound I-275 will close in mid May to build the new ramp and acceleration lane. There is a cash incentive in the builder's contract to help minimize the closure time.

--The new Ashley Drive entrance ramp to northbound I-275 should open between mid August and mid October. The contractor is allotted 200 days for the work but can earn cash incentives for completing the project sooner.

--The existing southbound I-275 exit ramp to Kay Street and the existing southbound I-275 exit ramp to Ashley Drive will close in mid July, coinciding with the opening of the new viaduct to the Ashley Drive exit and Doyle Carlton Drive in mid July. No longer will traffic on I-275 and westbound I-4 have to weave through lanes to exit to downtown. Traffic headed downtown will take the viaduct and have a choice of Ashley, Jefferson or Doyle Carlton.

The Florida Department of Transportation suggests that motorists pay special attention to the new lane configurations on northbound I-275 approaching I-4, where new access to eastbound I-4 would ease local congestion if drivers would use it instead of crowding to the right.

In addition, drivers should be alert for many more minor lane shifts and more construction over the next year.

haha... We will have a "DT Viaduct" soon...

Hmm, now that I think about it, aren't they doing this in Westshore also?

They should have added more through lanes - I am at a loss to understand why they didn't. The back-ups will still happen through the interchange without them

Of course the new plan sucks major ass. I've been bitching all along, ESPECIALLY about the single lane floyovers to I-4. It was utterly pointless to build new flyovers, if there was no lane expansion.

But hey, this is what happens when you are building a road that was needed to be built 20 years ago, to handle the kind of traffic we saw 5 years ago... And when the new network is finally completed 6-7 years from now, it will immediately be congested and obsolete. This is the American way of governing. Build it obsolete and build it too late. That way, the public is always pissed off about traffic, and will gladly watch billions of their money (taxes) get flushed away on perpetual road projects.

Well, that occurs for a very simple reason - northern states take more money than they put in for transportation while Florida and other growing states get less. Within Florida, the distribution is also not even.

^I thought it was more like the plains, upper midwest and mountain states (including Alaska) that take a disproportionate share? From what I've read, and seen other forumers bitch about, most northern states get screwed on funding these days too.

They get screwed from their perspective.

Anyone know if they are going to install guardrails along the shoulders of the median, or is it going to be completely open? Expect to see a lot of crossover head-on collisions in the future, just like you see on I-4 farther north, if that's the case.

One thing I hope, is that the Gandy/Selmon connector is built rather soon. In fact, they will probably need to start thinking about widening that bridge in a few years. With all of the growth at both ends of the bridge, it's obvious traffic will increase significantly.

Uh, nothing going to happen there.

AS for guard rails - if you have taken the new ramp from I-4 to 275 north, youwill note that there is a wall on the right side but no rails on the left, where it takes a sharp turn to the right. I anticipate that after one or two cars goes flying off that left side, dropping about 40 feet onto the northbound 275 (or if they area really into Starsky & Hutch and the Dukes of Hazard, clearing the northbound lanes and ending up in the southbound 275 lanes), someone will figure out that a rail should be on the outside of the turn, not the inside and put something there

In the mean time, I would take that turn slowly.

Don't know if anyone saw the Hartline pull-out in the Trib today, but it had an ambiguous refernce to BRT as the "future" - without any real explanation. Frankly, I would take BRT on dedicated lines just like LRT - though I like LRT more. (I always figured once you do a dedicated area and the development builds on the infrastructure, it becomes effective to put in trains anyway) Maybe they are thinking.

^I've briefly checked out some BRT platforms recently that seem to be very competitive with LRT. In fact, BRT very well could be a better option over the longer distances we see around here, because the per mile cost of BRT is usally quite a bit lower than rail (especially with the cost of rails skyrocketing, thanks to record steel prices).

Crosstown work gets a finish date
By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published March 15, 2005

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TAMPA - Construction is expected to resume within two weeks on the elevated lanes of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, and for the first time, officials specified a timetable for the opening of the troubled bridge.

Ralph Mervine, interim executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, told the agency's board Monday that the structure will be completed in January 2006. Then crews will install signs, lights and overhead signals for the reversible-lane operation.

"We might have people driving on it as early as June 2006," Mervine said, "and the date for absolute completion is Aug. 14."

Sometime before the end of the month, the 175-ton yellow truss used to install roadway will be moved to the vicinity of 50th Street, and it will mark the first time in nearly a year that any work has been done on the bridge other than demolition and repairs.

The truss will first be mounted on columns 95 and 96, and once that roadbed is down, it will slide east, to be mounted on columns 96 and 97. Column 97 is the one that sank abruptly last April, taking two segments of roadway with it.

An investigation of that failure and two other problems led to the discovery that 162 of the bridge's 218 support columns need shoring up. The cost of the delays and repairs has been estimated at nearly $80-million.

"We are not ready yet to declare what the final cost will be," said Brady Sneath, the authority's chief financial officer.

Fewer columns than expected will need the most expensive repair, which involves sinking two "sister shafts" next to the main shaft. That system costs about $400,000 per column.

In other developments Monday, Ken Hartmann, a member of the authority board, said he would retire June 30 as secretary of District 7 of the Florida Department of Transportation.

[Last modified March 15, 2005, 01:06:08]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/15/Tampabay/Crosstown_work_gets_a.shtml

I thought it was transportation (road, rail, metro, light rail etc)..... But it is an American thread, so road infrastructure IS THE ONLY transportation!

We desperately need more than road infrastructure but the government locally is fighting it hand-over-fist.

I thought it was transportation (road, rail, metro, light rail etc)..... But it is an American thread, so road infrastructure IS THE ONLY transportation!

Well, that'll teach you to poke around on an American transportation thread.

hehehehe.... Yeah, Americans aren't too bright when it comes to urban planning. Sorry.

LEst you be deceived - this is one of those buses dressed up as a streetcar:
St. Petersburg trolley stays full downtown
So many people are hitching a ride that the trolley may venture farther west down Central.
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer
Published March 16, 2005

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ST. PETERSBURG - Two months into its expanded service, the city's downtown trolley nearly has doubled its ridership from two years ago, officials report.

And they are contemplating extending the Looper west.

The Looper's 13-stop service is attracting tourists and more of the downtown business crowd snagging a quick ride to offices or lunch spots, said Joe Kubicki, director of the Transportation Planning Department.

This year's January ridership increased 30 percent and February's, 37 percent, over 2004's first two months, Kubicki's figures show.

That came on top of a boost the year before: Ridership in January 2004 had increased 43 percent from January 2003, and ridership in February 2004 increased 37 percent from February 2003.

"It shows people are using it, and on the other side, more people are using it to go to lunch and just generally move around the downtown area as opposed to moving their car," Kubicki said.

The trolley, which costs 25 cents a ride, runs from the Pier to the Art Center near Central Avenue and Seventh Street. The Vinoy Resort is its northernmost point and the Dali Museum its southern terminus.

Other stops include the other downtown museums, BayWalk, the open-air post office, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and the Hampton and Hilton hotels.

The raw numbers: 12,512 for January and February of this year, compared to 9,306 for the same period in 2004, a 34 percent jump.

The most popular pickup spot is the Pier, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the ridership. BayWalk is the second most popular, followed by the Museum of History and the Dali Museum.

Future plans include sending the Looper farther west on Central.

Don Shea, director of the Downtown Partnership, a business alliance, called the overall numbers "staggering." Shea said they provide strong justification for taking the Looper out Central to Tropicana Field and perhaps eventually as far as Central Plaza.

Officials first beefed up the Looper service in early 2004 to transport visitors to and from the popular Chihuly glass exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts on Beach Drive.

The city, the Downtown Partnership and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority then developed a plan to maintain increased service. The PSTA agreed to kick in a $140,000 yearly grant.

The money has allowed the service to reduce fares from $1, extend operating hours and hit stops every 15 minutes instead of 30.

[Last modified March 16, 2005, 01:32:17]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/16/Neighborhoodtimes/St_Petersburg_trolley.shtml

I'm not really sure what the point of this article is but . . .

Rush Hour Knows No Rank In Tampa
By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 20, 2005




TAMPA - Ray Chiaramonte looks over the hood of his silver Impala to check for room in the right turn lane on Linebaugh Avenue before heading south on Sheldon Road.
The Westchase resident knows that if the lane is clogged there's trouble ahead, probably a train or school bus backing up traffic on Sheldon, north of Waters Avenue.

Down the road loom more potential delays along Hillsborough Avenue - the nerve- rattling merger of Veterans Expressway, Memorial Highway and State Road 60, then the final bumper-to-bumper approach downtown on Interstate 275.

That's Chiaramonte's weekday morning commute from northwest Tampa. Other Bay area planning and transportation officials are fighting traffic from different directions as they head downtown.

More than fellow travelers in the next lane, these are the politicians and professionals who make decisions about future roads and new developments that add more commuters.

Six of these officials, selected for their positions and diversity of their commutes, said Tampa Bay traffic isn't as bad as many places, including Orlando.

But as the average one-way commute in Hillsborough County approaches 25 minutes, they also say congestion will get worse as the area continues to grow, even as new roads or improved public transportation provide some relief.

Shawn E. Harrison: Tampa councilman and chairman of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Harrison said ``there have been a lot of peaks and valleys'' during his 22 years driving from the suburbs northeast of Tampa on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, considered by some commuters as the toughest 25 miles in town.

It takes him about 40 minutes to get from New Tampa to his downtown law office in non-rush-hour traffic, which he travels as often as possible. A rush-hour commute can stretch to 1 1/2 hours.

``If I see traffic on [Interstate] 75 isn't moving, then I know something is going on,'' he said.

Work on State Road 56 and Morris Bridge Road helped for a while, Harrison said, ``but now everybody knows about those alternatives.''

A rapidly growing number of commuters from Pasco are partly to blame.

About $200 million in road projects are planned or proposed for New Tampa, including an east-west connector linking Tampa Palms directly to I-275.

``I think it will get slightly worse during construction, but then it will get much better once the projects are done,'' Harrison said. ``Even in the best-case scenario, it's still going to take you 30 minutes. I-4 and I-75 are always going to be a challenge.''

He said elected officials usually don't want to look far enough into the future to make good transportation planning decisions.

``There's not enough political will to build the infrastructure ahead of time,'' he said. ``We just have to face the fact that it's going to be expensive.''

But Harrison warned there's no ``magic bullet'' to eliminate congestion.

``All major cities have traffic problems,'' he said. ``It's not unique to Tampa or Florida.''

Ken Hartmann: District 7 secretary, Florida Department of Transportation

Hartmann drives from Valrico in central Hillsborough to his office near the University of South Florida using I-75 and Fowler Avenue. It usually takes him 30 to 40 minutes.

Since he began working at the transportation department's Tampa office 10 years ago, he said traffic has increased dramatically as he watched orange groves and other agricultural land plowed under for new subdivisions.

``With more houses comes more traffic,'' he said.

Hartmann said the department's long-range transportation plans frequently collide with financial realities.

``Quite frankly, we have not been able to keep up,'' he said. ``So it becomes that much more important to do the projects that are the most critical.''

In Tampa, that's rebuilding downtown's 40-year-old interstate system, which Hartmann said was designed for traffic capacities that were surpassed by the 1980s.

More than $1 billion in construction on Interstates 4 and 275 and the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway will smooth commutes between Tampa and eastern Hillsborough once the work is completed in about two years, Hartmann said.

But I-75 also needs to be widened to serve rapidly growing counties to the north and south, and the area eventually will need a beltway system for traffic that wants to bypass Tampa.

As for his own commute, Hartmann is retiring in June, but he expects to spend at least as much time traveling to his next job in the private sector.

Jane von Hahmann: Manatee County commissioner and chairwoman of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

She has a 15-minute drive on local roads to her commissioner's job in Bradenton and makes at least a monthly trip to the regional planning council office in Pinellas Park.

The worst part of her drive to Pinellas County is south of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, von Hahmann said. But she is still willing to bet her 45-minute drive to Pinellas is faster than her colleagues coming from Hillsborough and Pasco.

Von Hahmann said planners may be paying too much attention to big developments of regional impact and not enough to the cumulative impact of smaller projects, which she describes as ``death by thousands of pin pokes.''

She said 70 percent of the people buying new homes in north Manatee will be commuting to jobs in neighboring counties.

``You think you have it bad now. We are adding thousands and thousands of homes next to you,'' von Hahmann warned. ``They are not going to be [driving] in Manatee that many miles; they are going to be in Hillsborough or Pinellas.''

Von Hahmann said planners should look at roads first and development second, rather than the other way around.

``The reality, I'm sorry to say, in no way matches the [traffic prediction] models they make,'' she said. ``The models just seem to be failing.''

Ralph Mervine: interim executive director, Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority

Mervine drives from Mulberry in Polk County on State Road 60 to the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. The 40-mile trip takes about an hour each way.

He predicted the Expressway expansion under construction will improve his commute by up to 10 minutes once it is completed.

The elevated highway will have reversible lanes that are switched inbound and outbound to accommodate the morning and evening rush- hour traffic. It is scheduled to open in summer 2006 after delays caused by foundation problems with road supports.

Mervine said he seeks out busy roads.

``At least once a month, I travel to an area I would expect congestion,'' Mervine said.

He said the area's growing number of motorists are straining capacity and adding 15 to 20 minutes to most routes, more if there's an accident. But that's to be expected.

``I'm hesitant to say it's good,'' Mervine said. ``Compared to Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago or Houston, Tampa's network is not as congested as some other larger cities.''

Some of the problems, he suggested, are caused by Tampa commuters who ``drive too fast and follow too closely.''

Bob Hunter: executive director, Hillsborough County City- County Planning Commission

Hunter has commuted from Plant City in east Hillsborough to downtown for 17 years using I-4. He allows 45 minutes to reach his office.

``I've lived through all the I-4 reconstruction,'' he said. ``If you hit I-4 at peak it's gridlock, and it seems like the gridlock time period is getting longer.''

Hunter doesn't expect any improvement, even after work is completed at the intersection of Interstates 4 and 275, know as Malfunction Junction.

``My experience has always been when they finish construction, they are already at capacity,'' he said.

Pasco residents are clogging the interstate routes from the north, and he predicted south Hillsborough is going to get ``horrible'' in the coming years.

``Just improving the interstates is not solving the problem,'' Hunter said.

``We've got to find a better way to solve the transportation problems everywhere.''

That means getting a better grip on the impact of new developments earlier in the process, including projects approved years ago that aren't tied to laws that require developers to pay for new roads.

He said the hub of downtown Tampa should be surrounded by smaller, well- defined hives or ``activity centers,'' connected by public transportation to relieve congestion.

``As we continue to approve growth and we don't find ways to solve transportation problems, we are just putting more air in the balloon,'' Hunter said. ``I see sprawl continuing because we are not developing a vision of neighborhood or community where people want to live, work and shop.''

Ray Chiaramonte: assistant executive director, Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission

Chiaramonte alternates his commute from West Park Village between driving his car and riding the bus. The drive usually takes 35 to 45 minutes, but he said he once covered the 15 miles in 21 minutes.

The bus trip was taking up to an hour, he said, but route changes have shaved about 10 minutes, so now it is nearly on par with his tougher drives.

Making public transportation more time-competitive with driving is key to increasing the number of people willing to leave their cars at home, Chiaramonte said. Allowing bus-only lanes on highways could help.

Workers also might start moving closer to their city jobs as they realize the hidden costs of longer commutes, Chiaramonte said.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates congestion in the Tampa area cost individual commuters $742 per year in extra fuel and lost time, third highest in Florida behind Miami and Orlando.

``No matter how much we widen the roads, it's not going to stop [traffic problems]. It's a Band-Aid,'' Chiaramonte said. ``When I think about the amount of money we are spending, I wonder if it is really worth it for 10 minutes that I won't have to sit in this traffic.''

But many area residents don't grasp the link between their lifestyle choices and traffic problems.

``If people want large-lot, single-family homes but don't understand the transportation impacts, what can you do?'' he said. ``You can't force people to live some way they don't want to.''

Tribune researcher Michael A. Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7691.
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB92BISI6E.html

Plans for Whitted terminal take flight

State grants, city dollars and a generous benefactor have combined to fund a $4-million terminal.

By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
Published March 18, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST. PETERSBURG - Supporters of Albert Whitted Municipal Airport have long wanted a terminal to make the facility a first-class operation.

An artist painted a picture of such a building in 1993. Five years later, the city embraced a site plan that included a Mediterranean-style terminal on the northwest corner of the airport.

Bonds were even issued to pay for the terminal, but environmental problems sucked away the money.

Thursday, plans for the terminal took flight - this time for certain.

Mayor Rick Baker announced a detailed plan to build a $4-million general aviation terminal through a combination of state grants, city dollars and a generous benefactor.

"It is a great moment I think for the airport," Baker said from a rusty hangar that now acts as the terminal for the 78-year-old airport. "I'm not even sure you could consider what we have right now a terminal."

The Florida Transportation Department sent the mayor a letter Wednesday, committing to pay for 80 percent of the project, or $3.2-million. The funds would be distributed annually through 2011.

The grants require the city to come up with the remaining 20 percent for the 10,600-square-foot terminal.

Retired mutual fund executive John Galbraith, a pilot and local aviation enthusiast, agreed to donate $400,000 of the city's share. The city will come up with the rest, though an exact funding source has not been decided, Baker said.

Galbraith, who has made generous gifts to the Florida International Museum and Eckerd College, relocated his securities business to St. Petersburg after seeing an advertisement for Bayfront Tower condominiums next to "beautiful Albert Whitted Airport."

He kept a plane at the airport for 20 years, and his daughter learned to fly from an instructor there.

"I've been all wrapped up in flying almost my whole life," said Galbraith, 83, who has lived at Bayfront Tower since 1978. "The airport needs a terminal to be healthier, busier and more attractive."

Galbraith's generosity doesn't stop with his contribution. He has agreed to give the city an interest-free, $3.2-million loan so the construction can begin on the terminal within a year.

Otherwise, Baker said, the terminal could not be built until 2011. The work will take nine months, and the city will pay Galbraith back over six years.

"It's just incredible what John has done," said Jack Tunstill, a longtime airport supporter. "The change in the waterfront is going to be significant."

Planes have flown from the Albert Whitted site since 1917, but it wasn't officially christened until 1927. The airport bustled throughout the 1930s and '40s, first as home to one of the nation's earliest commercial airlines, National Airlines, and then as a naval training base during World War II.

It is a hub for some charter planes and smaller private planes, with about 200 aircraft based there.

Design plans for the terminal will be tweaked and updated. It will include lounge areas for pilots and passengers, restaurant space and business offices. It will be built on vacant land at the intersection of First Street S and Bayshore Drive, across the street from the new Salvador Dali Museum.

In 2003, voters overwhelmingly passed a referendum to preserve the airport.

Council member and pilot James Bennett said the terminal's construction proves the city is committed to the airport.

"It's what airport supporters have wanted for a long time," he said. "Now they're going to see it coming out of the ground."

Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 892-2273 or melanie@sptimes.com

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/18/news_pf/...itted_ter.shtml

It will look quite cool when done - assuming it doesn't fall down . . .

Bridge Work `Back On Track'
By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 27, 2005




TAMPA - Workers using a crane maneuvered three 9- foot bridge segments into place Friday near the 50th Street exit of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
The segments added only 27 feet to the 9-mile toll route, but it was the first bridge work since foundation problems halted construction last summer.

The reversible highway, which will offer a westbound express to Tampa in the morning and serve eastbound traffic to Brandon later, is expected to open by August 2006, more than a year behind schedule.

``This was a big day for us,'' expressway spokeswoman Beth Leytham said Friday. ``It gets the project fully back on track.''

Repairs and construction delays have driven up the project's cost by $73 million, to $423 million.

On Friday, the bridge crew worked 300 feet east of the support pier that sank 11 feet in April, causing a span of deck to collapse.

Work resumed briefly in July, then stopped again when a nearby second pier settled 1.3 inches after being loaded with a bridge span.

As the precast bridge segments were hoisted in the air and settled on a giant yellow truss Friday, work crews continued digging shafts to reinforce support columns beneath bridge spans, now held aloft by jacks.

An examination of the highway concluded that 155 of its 218 foundations need to be reinforced.

Engineers hope to regain the momentum that had the project ahead of schedule before April's collapse by completing foundation repairs ahead of erecting the bridge segments.

About 40 percent of the elevated roadway was complete at the time of the accident, which injured two workers and cracked the windshields of several vehicles traveling on the expressway below during the morning commute.

The three bridge segments arrived from the casting yard at the Port of Tampa about 2 p.m. Friday on customized tractor-trailers, each with 50 wheels.

A foreman gave instructions to the crew. The workers wrapped four steel cables dangling from the crane underneath the 60-foot-wide bridge segment, bolting them together.

The truck bed arched like a cat's back as the 70-ton segment was lifted. The crane operator swung the segment toward the truss as the truck pulled forward and merged with eastbound traffic.

Workers atop the truss guided it the last few inches into place, then unhinged the cables. The 197-foot crane swung back for the next segment as another truck moved forward into place. The process took about 15 minutes.

``The plan is to start slowly,'' said Jerry Harder, president of project contractor PCL Civil Constructors Inc. ``We have to relearn the process we had learned before. As we do that, we will speed up the process.''

It may take a few weeks to work west toward the pier that sank in April.

Harder said it will take the remainder of the year to install about 1,700 remaining segments.

Work is to resume Monday as the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority board of directors takes its first vote on a $188.4 million financing package to repay loans to the Florida Department of Transportation and cover the cost of repairs and construction.

The authority plans to issue 30-year bonds based on future toll revenue, which consulting firm Wilber Smith & Associates is expected to outline in a report.


Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBX58JDR6E.html

Iorio Proposes Public Transit Referendum
By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com
Published: Mar 29, 2005


TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio called for a referendum on public transportation Tuesday in her second annual State of the City address at the Tampa Convention Center.

``It is time we come together as a community - city, county, HARTline, the citizens - and decide what kind of mass transit system we need and must have for the future, devise a plan and put it before the voters,'' she said. ``We cannot fail future generations. Let's plan and fund today alternatives to an ever increasing congested road system.''

Hillsborough County officials have nixed sales tax referendums in the past due to strong objections to a proposed $950 million light rail system.

The light rail numbers get so big that people lose their enthusiasm,'' Iorio said after her 10-minute speech.

But it's time to revisit the level of public transportation funding taxpayers are willing to support, she said, in part due to the January appointment of Ray Miller as the new executive director of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit.

Iorio also said suburban seniors afraid of driving on the region's congested roads are becoming increasing isolated from downtown and other parts of the community.

``We have lousy mass transit,'' Iorio said. ``We have got to improve it.``

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB9DF7EW6E.html

Here is a link to the entire letter Iorio wrote.
http://www.tampagov.net/dept_mayor/files/speech_march_2005.pdf

^Indeed, that was the only worthwhile thing I gleaned from her otherwise fluffy and useless speech.

But, considering how she said one thing about the cultural arts district, but is doing quite another, I have absolutely no faith that she will get anything done, other than repainting bus stop shelters and benches, and adding drip edges above bus doors. (because a city is made in the microscopic details, you know!)

^Indeed, that was the only worthwhile thing I gleaned from her otherwise fluffy and useless speech.

But, considering how she said one thing about the cultural arts district, but is doing quite another, I have absolutely no faith that she will get anything done, other than repainting bus stop shelters and benches, and adding drip edges above bus doors. (because a city is made in the microscopic details, you know!)

I totally agree! She says one thing and does another! She wants a world class city of the arts, but wants a lower end art museum. Even the current design for the museum while nice, it is smaller than most I believe. I also don't see many people voting for light rail. They might be able to pull off a BRT line like in Jax, but not a light rail system. I was in NYC this week, man I love that place. The subway was great! I can get almost anywhere in manhattan and be a few blocks of the place I wanted to go. Boy do you pay for this conveniece though. NYC was not cheap.

^NYC is expensive for myriad other reasons, namely rampant NIMBYism, and the resulting cascade of nonsensical regulations.

^NYC is expensive for myriad other reasons, namely rampant NIMBYism, and the resulting cascade of nonsensical regulations.

I knew it had alot to do with the dumb regulations, but I never knew they had any kind of rampant NIMBYism. :uh:

Oh hell yes they do.

Go ask anyone in the NYC metroforum about it.

You snooze, you come out looking like an impoverished idiot (if they built this ten years ago when it was first proposed it would have save a hell of a lot of money):
Highway cost leaps by millions
A study estimates up to $140-million for a New Tampa connector to I-275 - almost eight times the price envisioned in 2000.
By RODNEY THRASH
Published March 30, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TAMPA - Nearly five years ago, Tampa's transportation chief stood before a crowd of 600 people with some good news: The cost of a proposed roadway offering direct access to Interstate 275 from New Tampa had shrunk from $30-million to less than $18-million.

Since that August 2000 gathering at Wharton High School, the cost of the East-West Road has changed at least five times, each amount higher than the next.

But the Florida Turnpike Enterprise's projection has bested them all.

"We're estimating ... $130- to $140-million," turnpike spokeswoman Joanne Hurley said.

It was the one finding that emerged this week from the toll authority's study of the 3-mile highway. Last year, the turnpike, which operates the Veterans Expressway and the Suncoast Parkway, expressed an interest in partnering with Tampa to build the East-West Road. Proponents of the project have contended for years that a connector road is necessary to take cars off overburdened Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, but city officials have never figured out where they would get the money to build it.

The agency paid for its own analysis despite previous studies from the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority and an independent consultant. Hurley said the turnpike agency recently completed its research, but was mum on specifics.

So how can the East-West Road now be nearly eight times that amount? Not even Roy LaMotte, who succeeded Elton Smith as Tampa's transportation czar last year, can tell you.

"That's very dramatic," he said. Just eight months earlier, at a town hall meeting, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said the road would cost nearly $96-million. How the turnpike agency arrived at $140-million is beyond LaMotte. "I'd like to see what it includes," he said. "Are they working in costs of the right of way? Costs of the pond?"

There's a shortage of building materials such as concrete and steel, Hurley said. The longer it takes to get those materials, the higher the price.

[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:02:04]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/30/Tampabay/Highway_cost_leaps_by.shtml

Well, I am very annoyed about the museum, but if should pull a referendum off, I would be much happier:
Mayor Steering City To Transit Referendum
By MARK HOLAN and ANDY REID The Tampa Tribune
Published: Mar 30, 2005




TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio called for a referendum on public transportation Tuesday in her second annual State of the City address at the Tampa Convention Center.
``We have lousy mass transit. We have got to improve it,'' she said.

Hillsborough County commissioners would have to place the issue on the ballot. They have rejected sales tax referendums for transportation in the past, in part due to objections to a proposed $950 million light rail system.

``It is time we come together as a community - city, county, HARTline, the citizens - and decide what kind of mass- transit system we need and must have for the future, devise a plan and put it before the voters,'' Iorio said.

About 750 invited guests and city employees attended the speech, which was preceded by a 15-minute video touting Tampa's ``positive progress'' and ``new vibrancy.'' The accomplishments included Trump Tower, other downtown residential projects, the Lightning's Stanley Cup championship and the ``I Am Tampa'' campaign.

Iorio's 10-minute speech continued with the theme of making Tampa one of the nation's ``most livable'' cities. She briefly mentioned the defunct proposal to build a $76 million Tampa Museum of Art, which failed to meet a private fundraising deadline Tuesday.

Iorio vowed to pursue a scaled-down version of the building.

``We will have a new art museum for Tampa, and a new children's museum must be coordinated with a new art museum,'' Iorio said.

A children's museum is proposed on city land beside the William F. Poe Parking Garage, near the art museum.

Her speech avoided the rough patches of her administration:

* Iorio pushed for new city ethics rules and hiring requirements and reorganized the housing department after former city housing chief Steve LaBrake was convicted of bribery and conspiracy for awarding work to a contractor who gave him a discount on his home.

Those changes, however, stopped construction of homes for low-income residents and left 200 on a waiting list for home renovations through the city's affordable housing program.

* Iorio made history after taking office by hiring Tampa's first black fire chief, Aria Ray Green. During her second year she asked for his resignation, citing morale problems within the fire department. Green's dismissal drew criticism from the black community and raised questions about whether Iorio's decision was influenced by the politically powerful firefighters union.

* The fire department made national news when Fire Captain Al Suarez, one of Iorio's political supporters, was fired after a photo shoot involving strippers at a New Tampa fire station.

* Three plans to replace crumbling public housing in Central Park Village failed to materialize under Iorio's watch. The latter was stopped after Iorio and business leaders raised concerns that rebuilding concentrated public housing in the same location would hurt efforts to lure restaurants, condominiums and other redevelopment to the north end of downtown.

Iorio has formed committees, hired consultants and created redevelopment districts to lay the groundwork for change.

``A lot of that stuff ... lays the foundation,'' Iorio said afterward. ``I see a lot of progress on all fronts for the next year.''

A sewing company with 30 workers soon will locate in east Tampa, she said.

Iorio continued to promote her vision of a riverwalk along the Hillsborough River.

``We must never take our focus away from completing it, section by section,'' she said.

Iorio, a former county commissioner, didn't offer details about a transportation referendum. She said it's time to revisit how much public transportation taxpayers will support, as the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority operates under Ray Miller as executive director.

Miller, who started in January and was at the convention center for the speech, said he wasn't surprised by Iorio's proposal.

``I don't think this organization is in any position to move forward with a referendum at this time,'' he said. ``It definitely needs to be considered for the future.''

Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Jim Norman was in Tallahassee and could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

As for what she's learned since taking office in 2003, Iorio said, ``I've learned to be a lot more patient.''


Reporter Andy Reid can be reached at (813) 259-8408. Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGB1ISC1X6E.html

Seeing Traffic Jams Ahead, Mayor Smart To Talk Transit


Published: Apr 3, 2005
Tampa Tribune Editorial

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has said nothing about public transit during her first two years in office, but she is suddenly calling attention to the area's insufficient bus service.
Her leadership is badly needed. The last decade has been a tough one for transportation advocates. A commuter rail proposal has been abandoned. A committee's recommendation to spend more on buses and roads was ignored by county leaders. A transportation initiative by the Chamber of Commerce fizzled.

The only recent transit success has been the creation of a short streetcar line, and it has generated controversy. Iorio supports the streetcar, completed before she became mayor, but points out that it's for tourists.

``I want it to thrive,'' she says, ``but it's not really mass transit.''

She understands the need for a more reliable way to move large numbers of people around a fast-growing urban area increasingly jammed with cars and trucks.

Iorio says she hasn't raised the issue of better transit in her first two years in office because she knew nothing would happen until HARTline had new leadership. Now with Ray Miller hired to replace Sharon Dent at the bus line, Iorio is ready to crank up a conversation about what to do next.

She is probably heading for a collision with Hillsborough County commissioners over the need for more transportation money. But for now, she and County Commission Chairman Jim Norman don't seem badly out of step.

They both agree that the first task is to improve the bus service. Both think more money must be spent on transportation, but spent wisely.

Norman even acknowledges that ``every great community does have a transit system.''

Iorio has bigger ambitions, envisioning a system that will eventually link to St. Petersburg and the two major airports.

``We have to look at core service first,'' Norman advises.

That's a good starting point for identifying improvements useful to the city and acceptable to the suburbs. Lead on, Mayor.

Messing with HARTline will not solve Tampa's transportation problems. Very few people ride buses in Florida as we have so many cars. The only solution is light rail, which unfortunately will never happen.

Oh, thank God - one of them sees the light:

Norman even acknowledges that ``every great community does have a transit system.''

Article published May 1, 2005
Planners look at I-75 alternatives
Among the options are more lanes or a whole new road through inland farmland.

By Dale White

Every day, more than 100,000 vehicles cross the Sarasota-Manatee border on Interstate 75 and more than 43,000 use the highway to cross the Charlotte County line.

By 2030, according to the Florida Department of Transportation, that northern traffic count could jump to more than 156,000 vehicles each day and that southern count to more than 104,000.

"We're going to be worse than I-4," Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash warned other local elected officials this past week, referring to the infamously congested highway linking Tampa and Orlando. "That's unacceptable."

Yet trying to manage that future traffic demand on I-75, which is based on a projection that the Sarasota-Manatee area could have 1 million people in 25 years, presents McClash and other elected officials with a dilemma.

Do they push to have I-75 enlarged to 10 lanes? The interstate is now six lanes wide in Manatee and northern Sarasota County and four lanes wide near North Port.

Or do they insist on a new north-south highway to relieve I-75, with the likely consequence of opening more rural land to homes, roads and cars?

The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization -- a panel of mayors, county commissioners and other local officials that prioritizes regional transportation projects -- is tossing both questions out for public debate.

The MPO is currently working on its long-range plan. It will have public forums about that 25-year plan in Sarasota and Manatee counties this week. The future of I-75 is likely to be one of the hottest topics.

MPO executive director Michael Guy said his staff has been talking with the MPOs representing other counties about the possibility of a new highway that would run parallel to I-75.

The Florida Department of Transportation's Tampa office intends to oversee a study and come up with likely costs and possible routes.

"It could be anywhere between this coast and Sebring," Guy said.

Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson says history makes her cautious about allowing a new highway to be built somewhere east of Sarasota.

In the early 1970s, when the federal government decided on the route for a southward extension of I-75 from Tampa to Naples, Sarasota County decided that the forthcoming highway could serve as an urban boundary.

For more than 30 years, the county has limited densities east of that boundary to one home for every five to 10 acres. It recently made an exception for developments that meet its new village rules, which call for clustered housing with preserved open spaces.

Patterson said a new highway east of I-75 would increase political pressure for Sarasota County to move its urban boundary several miles east into still-rural areas. The new highway would generate more growth, leading to even higher traffic projections, she warned.

Patterson's concerns are valid, Guy said.

"From Tampa to Collier County, I-75 is almost a linear city," he said.

The 42-mile Suncoast Parkway, a toll highway, opened in 2001 to relieve traffic on I-75 north of Tampa. The limited-access highway connects with the Veterans Expressway in Hillsborough County and runs through Pasco and Hernando counties. It terminates at U.S. 98 near the Citrus County line.

The Suncoast Parkway opened once-agricultural areas to development, Guy said. "It's a building boom up there."

Sarasota County Commission Chairman Paul Mercier believes the best option is a new highway, but not through Manatee or Sarasota counties.

"Why don't we think more regionally?" Mercier said.

Mercier is suggesting a toll highway that would be a straighter version of U.S. 17, a two-lane road that extends from the Florida Turnpike near Orlando and south through Polk, Hardee, Desoto and Charlotte counties to Punta Gorda.

Mercier's suggested route for the new north-south turnpike would pass through the same inland counties but instead terminate near Naples.

Traffic from Lee and Collier counties that is headed for Disney World or other destinations in north or east Florida could avoid taking I-75 to Tampa and then switching to I-4, Mercier said. Southbound traffic headed to Naples and Fort Myers could bypass the Sarasota-Bradenton area as well.

Mercier said he has encountered opposition to the idea from slow-growth advocates who say a new highway would open rural Florida to too much growth. He's also heard criticism that the project would divert dollars from I-75 and steer economic development away from Sarasota-Bradenton.

"I've taken shots from both sides," Mercier said. "I'm either pro-development or anti-business."

Yet Mercier considers an additional highway to be a preferable choice because, unlike a widening of I-75, it would also create another hurricane evacuation route for the region.

"It's a big-picture issue," Mercier said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050501/NEWS/505010323/1060

Do they push to have I-75 enlarged to 10 lanes? The interstate is now six lanes wide in Manatee and northern Sarasota County and four lanes wide near North Port.

Or do they insist on a new north-south highway to relieve I-75, with the likely consequence of opening more rural land to homes, roads and cars?

The Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization -- a panel of mayors, county commissioners and other local officials that prioritizes regional transportation projects -- is tossing both questions out for public debate.


Here's the crux of the real problem...Growth 'dilemmas' framed in moronic shades of black and white...

Why isn't making 301 or 41 limited access a consideration? Why isn't mass transit, like commuter rail, local LRT and so forth considered? Why not a new right of way west of I-75?

Nope, apparently the only options are to widen the existing busy road at immense fiscal cost, or build a new road in the boondocks at immense fiscal, environmental and cultural cost...Why even call it a "debate", or a "decisionmaking process", if the process is crippled from the start? What a sham.

Of course they're going to build another north-south route out in the middle of the state, although I don't know how soon that will be. You'd think that Sarasota and its ilk would learn from the mistakes of larger Florida cities, but they haven't and they wont. Personally, I think containing most of the development down there west of I-75 would be the smart thing to do, but that's hopeless. By the time I can afford to build my own home, There's going to be nothing much left of this state, it's sad really, and hardly any land is being developed into parks these days. So much for utopia.

can't build west of 75 now - it would cost too much to acquire land for a highway (could do a train, but you have to get three counties to agree to that - good luck) If they go a couple of miles east (al la the 95/Turnpike) I wouldn't care. if they go farther, I would. Why not widen what they have - they have land for about 4 more lanes if they make it an urban interstate rather than use the design from west Texas.

By the way - a train would not help much on 75 as a lot of the problem is through traffic - though I would still like to see a local train in Sarasota.

trains would help to absorb a good bit of the local growth, which is a big, big part of the projections from what I understand.

And making like 301 limited access would help immensely IMO. if they want to spend billions, at least do it right.

Imo, rail (light or commuter) would probably be the best and cheapest option. The existing rail line runs north-south and isn't used that much. However, this sounds like they want to see something that will get them across the state faster, instead of improving local conditions.

They will probably do both at some point -- widen I-75 and build a new north-south route to the east. It's just a matter of what they decide to focus on first.

A commuter train from Tampa to Naples would be nice, though.

Hell, a commuter train from Spring Hill to Tampa woudl be good too.

But thinking like that is beyond the powers-that-be. More roads, more fo the time - until we are built out as a state and THEN just start widening roads to avoid the Rail quesiton! :P

Once again - it's Bay News 9, but who else is talking about it . . .

A change to the Veterans Expressway?
Saturday, May 7, 2005
Getting there along the Veterans Expressway could be getting easier for drivers in the near future.

The expressway opened in 1994 and traffic has increased steadily.

It's become one of the most traveled stretches in the Bay area and transportation officials say there needs to be some changes.

The Florida Department of Transportation is starting a study to determine the feasibility of widening the expressway by taking it from two to four lanes in each direction.

FDOT is seeking input from citizens and the study will take about 18 months.

"After the study is complete, it takes time to design, so we don't anticipate construction until 5 years from now," Joanne Hurley of the Florida Turnpike said.

Some drivers said they would be willing to put up with construction slow-downs, at least temporarily.

"If it's going to better the situation, it'll be good," driver Dwight Dunn said. "I would go through the hassle of traffic knowing it'll be better in the end."

Transportation officials aren't sure how much it would cost to widen the expressway, but if the project gets the green light, it'll be paid for through Florida Turnpike tolls.

"The tolls our customers pay help us make improvements," Hurley said. "It's not funded with taxpayer dollars."

Tolls aren't expected to increase.

Increases are planned years in advance and officials said one project wouldn't trigger a toll rate hike.

One concern is how the widening might affect businesses along the corridor and that's one thing the study will look into.

Public hearings on the project could start early next year.
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2005/5/7/80557.html

New buses could put city on the fast track
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer
Published May 11, 2005

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ST. PETERSBURG - An express bus guaranteed to beat traffic lights might be zipping passengers across the city by 2008.

Such a "bus rapid transit" vehicle would go fast, look slick and not stop as often while traveling First avenues N and S, St. Petersburg's east-west arteries linking downtown to the beaches. Those buses would be able to send a signal to traffic lights to have a perpetual green light before them.

Part of its purpose would be to attract riders in an era of rising gas prices and in a mostly built-out county where new road-building is iffy, transportation officials say.

At a workshop last week, the bus agency's staff unveiled a five-year blueprint whose first phase includes improvements on seven of the county's 32 routes.

Five of the seven affect buses serving St. Petersburg. For example, routes 5, 7 and 15 would run every 30 minutes instead of every hour. Route 18 would run every 20 minutes instead of 30; route 19, which runs from Tarpon Springs to Eckerd College, would get an extra bus to increase weekend and holiday service.

The year 2007 would bring more frequent service for routes 11 and 38, both of which serve St. Petersburg. And in 2008, the bus rapid transit is envisioned for First avenues N and S, known in transportation parlance as the Central Avenue corridor.

Another would travel Ulmerton Road in mid Pinellas County by 2009 and another would serve McMullen-Booth Road in north Pinellas in 2010.

The buses planned for the corridors are striking vehicles. They would be similar to those used in Las Vegas. Instead of the usual squared-off front, the buses have rounded snouts that give them a trainlike appearance.

But the computerized ability to control traffic lights might be the most interesting feature.

If a bus needs another few seconds to make the green light, a computer system on the bus can hold the "go" signal. Likewise, if the bus needs a red light to turn green more quickly, the vehicle is wired to make it happen.

"Theoretically, they don't have to stop for the lights," said St. Petersburg City Council member John Bryan, who also is on the PSTA board.

Ridership on the 163-bus fleet is approaching 10-million annually. That's projected to increase by perhaps 22 percent during the plan's five years.

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 00:46:18]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/11/Neighborhoodtimes/New_buses_could_put_c.shtml

Holy cripes, two articles with good news in just a few days! What is the world coming to?

TIA outgrows its parking

Airport officials want to raise parking rates to push travelers to use the remote lots or private, off-airport parking services.

By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer
Published May 20, 2005

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TAMPA - Tampa International Airport officials likely will raise parking rates five months earlier than planned to deal with a space shortage that has abruptly - and unexpectedly - become a crisis.

And the worst is yet to come.

May is supposed to be the slowest month of the year for passenger traffic at TIA, but on Wednesday, parking managers had packed into the short-term and long-term garages 600 more cars than the structures were designed to hold.

Down at the remote economy lot, where half the spaces have been lost for the summer for construction of a new garage, there were only 130 places left at one point on Wednesday. One additional jet flight out of TIA would have polished those off.

So the board of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority is geared to vote on June 2 to raise the price of close-in parking about 30 to 40 percent, a move that wasn't expected until November. Officials want to use economic leverage to push people into remote parking or to private, off-airport parking services that bus passengers to the terminal.

Rob Wheeler, a computer programmer from Lutz, got the message already.

"I fly two, maybe three times a month, and it's actually faster to park down here (at the remote economy lot) and shuttle up (to the terminal) than to drive around long-term parking hoping to luck into a spot," Wheeler said. "Saves gas and money."

Wheeler and fellow users of the remote lot pay $7 a day for parking to a maximum of $42 a week. The seventh day is free. Authority officials are thinking of giving the second day free, instead, to attract shorter-term parkers to the remote facility.

If, as expected, the board raises rates on June 2 on parking options closer to the terminal, valet will go from $18 to $24 a day, the short-term garage from $14 to $18 a day and the long-term garage from $10 to $14 a day.

"Our forecast growth for this year was 2.5, 3.5 percent, and what is it so far? Nearly 12 percent," Louis Miller, executive director of the Aviation Authority, told his board at a workshop on Thursday.

"We thought we could limp along until the new remote garage opens in November, but obviously, we can't do that."

Meanwhile, in the short-term garage, the effects of Wednesday's sardine-can parking were still visible Thursday morning. While there were scattered spaces available, cars were parked in corners and on yellow-painted floors where they normally are forbidden. One Volvo station wagon was even parked against the railing surrounding an elevator core on the seventh level.

Michelle Morris of Ellenton complained that blocked sight lines made driving hazardous.

"I was going up and down, looking for a space, but when I came to the end of a row, I couldn't see around the cars parked illegally," she said. "Pulling out was like a game of Russian roulette. If raising rates will fix this, do it."

With local schools either just out or about to end, the real summer travel season is yet to come - bringing with it the worst parking nightmares of the year.

While March and April are the biggest passenger months at the airport, most of those travelers are spring breakers coming to Florida and renting cars or riding with friends.

It is in the summer, when Floridians leave, that parking facilities fill up.

Within a few days, the airport will open an overflow lot that will add 1,000 remote spaces at the south end of the airport property.

Even when the new remote garage opens, parking woes will not end. Airport projections suggest the facility will need additional surface lots and garages at the south end of the property. The plan even envisions building a north terminal garage well in advance of the north terminal itself, a complex that would mirror the current facility.

The notion of building more parking capacity faster was endorsed by developer Al Austin, chairman of the Aviation Authority board.

"We're playing catch-up instead of getting ahead of the curve," Austin said. "We need to be thinking about building excess capacity sooner because Florida growth has been phenomenal, and it's going to continue."


PARKING TIPS

Use a taxi or a limousine/shuttle service or park at a private facility off-site that will drive you back and forth. There are several in the West Shore/Spruce Street area.

If you must park on the airport grounds, avoid the peak days Tuesday through Friday. Peak hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Choose the remote economy lot first. It is much less expensive, and shuttles run to the terminal every 10 minutes.

Don't use the short-term garage for overnight parking. It is meant for people picking up or dropping off passengers.

Since you're already planning on getting to the airport an hour or two early to get through security, tack on an extra half-hour for parking.

While an express bus in St. Pete, and the proposed water taxi here in Sarasota are no Light Rail, at least its a step in the right direction. You guys should have heard the reactions of the Sarasota-Manatee MPO and local residents when they heard our counties combined would reach 1 million people in less than 20 years. Ha, straight back to expand the interstate to 10 lanes!

Dumbasses should definitely be building a park and ride commuter or light rail system down there before development and land values really get insane. Especially since Sarasota is already tending towards being a city ruled by a strong DT core. What do they think the city will be like once sprawl spreads out, really leaving nowhere to grow but up? Plan now dum dums, don't be stupid like Tampa and Orlando.

Its so insane down here. There's a rail road track that goes from Venice up through Sarasota county, right past DT Sarasota and up to Bradenton that would be perfect for a light rail system. It goes through every major E-W road in Sarasota and even parallels the interstate with rooms for stations along the tracks. But no, instead the politicians down here feel its best to remove the railroad tracks for a bike trail, add 2 more lanes in each direction on the interstate, and expand an exsisting quiet 2 lane road (Honore Road) into another throughfare that will only make people want to eliminate a light rail proposal even more.

Going onto a new topic and thought here....

When the Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater shut down on the 10th - I started thinking about alternative transit again and why nothing is in place besides the bridges....

Is commuter ferry service in the region plausible? I mean, not just in the case between the mainland and barrier islands (with how much traffic goes to Clearwater beach and how few parking spaces there are, I am surprised they aren't trying to encourage more pedestrians to get over to the beach besides through their beach trolley / bus) but also in a case directly between Tampa and St. Petersburg. Iorio's talked about eventually having the two cities connected through rail or monorail - but why not take the easiest route right now and connec tthe two cities direclty through a water route?

That would be a nice idea, being exactly what Sarasota is trying to do now with its beaches.

Its so insane down here. There's a rail road track that goes from Venice up through Sarasota county, right past DT Sarasota and up to Bradenton that would be perfect for a light rail system. It goes through every major E-W road in Sarasota and even parallels the interstate with rooms for stations along the tracks. But no, instead the politicians down here feel its best to remove the railroad tracks for a bike trail, add 2 more lanes in each direction on the interstate, and expand an exsisting quiet 2 lane road (Honore Road) into another throughfare that will only make people want to eliminate a light rail proposal even more.

At least if Floridians ever wise up, it'll be easy to turn it into a light rail line. It would be even cooler if Jim Sebesta's idea of a Hernando to Sarasota commuter line ended up passing along this easement. But I wouldn't count on it until gasoline prices triple from where they are now and Americans realize how woefully inadequate suburbia becomes when feet and public transit are the preferred mode of transportation.

You have to realize that our politicians aren't going to approve light rail becasue we just don't have the densities to make it work. However on the flip side the politicians won't permit high density mixed use zoning that allow these densities to come about which would make light rail a reality.

It's loose loose either way. Untill our traffic gets so bad like L.A. I can't see anything innovative being done. We don't have forward thinking leaders who are willing to take chances.

^^^

I agree. Traffic will never get to that terrible of a point without anything being done. It's like my lawn. I don't mow it every week, but I'll never allow it to look like an African savanna.

The consequence is paying for a higher bill and more inconvienences when Tampa does decide to build a mass-transport system. I would like to see a good BRT system here sometime soon.

You know, I am big on mass transit in the area - and there is oen blogger who has been big on it as well... A guy at www.tamparail.org

He went off the deep end with his latest post though and he's not going to win any more people onto his side with it. He's flying the Nzi Swastika and comparing Tampa's car dependence to the Nazis.... Of course, he's citing an article from the local papers about how America has mirrored the Nazi Germans Autobahn construction after World War 2, but the minute you bring the Nazis into a modern discussion - it just throws everything off.

It's liek that clown in PA -- one fo the senators that compared the Democrats and the fillibuster in congress to Nazis invading Paris.... It makes no sense and just looks like desperate sensationalism, winning no one to his side fo the argument.

Last thing Tampa needs right now are pinheads like David Pinero who claims to be pro-rail going off on the deep end in his agenda....

the overpasses for sunset, coachman, and drew are coming along...heres the ride home from work

http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_004.jpg
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_005.jpg
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_006.jpg
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_007.jpg

^jeez, that stuff takes soooo long.

Thankfully, it looks like the one overpass may actually be done by the end of the year. Unless they hired PCL to do the design, in which case it will have to be repaired at least twice before opening.

oh, pinellas projects are even worse than hillsborough, which are horrendous - even when the engineers know how to use a ruler.

^I met a guy yesterday that works for URS... I jokingly offered him my condolences, and he laughed, saying he worked for a different division, and that alot of heads rolled over thier recent bunglings.

Did I see somewhere where Tampa's envisioning a BRT system ?

I wouldn't mind seeing O-town do the same, although we do have a commuter rail plan moving along, however laboriously.

^I deleted that post, as I created a thread dedicated to the issue discussed...

Bay area tops survey of least affordable regions
A study says that compared to other areas, residents spend more on housing and transportation.
By STEVE THOMPSON
Published June 15, 2005

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The Tampa Bay area is the least affordable large metro area in the nation based on the cost of housing and getting around, according to a study released Tuesday.

An average of 57.7 percent of household expenditures here goes toward housing and transportation, the study says. That leaves less for things like retirement savings, health care and college funds.

Miami area households came in next, spending 57.5 percent. San Diego households came in No. 3, Atlanta No. 4.

Pittsburgh households, the study says, spend least on transportation and housing: 45.8 percent.

The study, "Driven to Spend," focuses on transportation costs. It says Tampa Bay residents spend 20.4 percent of household budgets just getting around. That's the fourth highest percentage among the nation's most populous metro areas.

But combine the transportation costs with housing costs, and the Tampa Bay area climbs to No. 1, says the report. It was produced by two nonprofit think tanks, the Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, D.C. and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, based in Chicago.

The study comes days after the Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization board voted to support a $1.5-billion plan to build 38 miles of elevated monorail and create a series of buses and trolleys to support it.

In Hillsborough County, a light rail proposal was essentially killed earlier this year after federal officials declined to help fund it.

"Driven to Spend" uses statistics from 2002 and 2003. Its authors note that recent rises in gas prices have only made things worse for the metro areas that rely most heavily on cars.

The study uses U.S. Department of Labor statistics, which say the average Tampa Bay household spends $7,291 on transportation each year:

$3,546 for vehicle purchases;

$1,142 for gasoline and motor oil;

$2,407 for other vehicle expenses;

$196 for public transportation.

Tampa Bay households spend less on public transportation than any of the metro areas studied. The average for large metro areas was $494. New Yorkers spend $1,042.

[Last modified June 15, 2005, 00:42:08]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/15/Tampabay/Bay_area_tops_survey_.shtml

^^Nice find.

Lies. Damn Lies. Statistics.

for example - DC metro - traffic/commute is worse. houses cost more. tax on car ownership. State income tax. how is it cheaper for most people unless you massage the numbers just to prove a point.

It is better to do an honest study.

Lies. Damn Lies. Statistics.

for example - DC metro - traffic/commute is worse. houses cost more. tax on car ownership. State income tax. how is it cheaper for most people unless you massage the numbers just to prove a point.

It is better to do an honest study.

I think what the study is saying is that, in Tampa Bay people spend a higher percent of their money. In D.C. the average wages are higher than they are here in Tampa. So in reality, in D.C. they most likely spend more money but a smaller percent of their overall wages

Its not a surprise we ranked 1st in least money spent in the country. Our governments spend next to nothing on our transportation issues (unless its a new 10 lane highway).

Yeah this is no suprise at all. There are hardly any great public transportation system in Florida, let alone Tampa Bay area. Hopefully this report may encourage the people in power to spend some more money on smart transportation. While they are at it, trying to get higher paying jobs would be a bonus too.

I just can't see a real light rail project getting started here anytime soon. Our population is getting older and bringing with it the views of the cities of the Northern states who already have rail systems. They don't like those cities so they leave them to come down to rail free Florida where I am sure they will put up a fight before any plan is passed.

Oh, I don't know about that. Elderly transplants I know, though they may prefer our warmer weather, seem to miss the public transportation in the cities they left behind. I'd be willing to bet that, as the South becomes more Northern, rail moves closer and closer to reality.

Airport Presents Expansion Plans

By TED JACKOVICS tjackovics@tampatrib.com
Published: Jun 17, 2005






TAMPA - Tampa International Airport officials unveiled conceptual plans Thursday for a new terminal complex that would eventually double the size of the airport and could require relocating part of Hillsborough Avenue.
Officials agree that design and finance plans for a North Terminal complex - long a part of the airport's master plan update - could be launched as soon as six years from now.

It would take another three years to construct the first phase of the North Terminal, which could be built in various stages and add 14 to 74 aircraft gates to the 60 gates already operating.

Yet to be determined is how much the new terminal would cost, when various phases would be completed and how vehicles would circulate through the airport.

What is apparent is that a new terminal project likely will be launched sooner rather than later, officials at a Hillsborough County Aviation Authority workshop said.

Officials may have to step up efforts and realize that growth may occur more quickly than projected, said Al Austin, chairman of the aviation authority and a longtime Tampa developer.

``If the pattern of Florida growing at 1,000 people a day continues or even accelerates, it is highly likely we are going to be way behind the curve,'' he said.

The current terminal can handle 25 million people annually, with certain improvements. How long it takes to reach that limit will determine when the new terminal will be built. Tampa International handled 17.4 million last year, and passenger growth this year has been 13 percent, airport director Louis Miller said.

If the airport sustains a high level of growth, it would be reasonable to assume it would attain the 25 million passenger mark in 6 to 10 years, authority board member Stephen Mitchell said.

Board member Ken Anthony said the period between 2013 and 2015 is a favorable time to plan an expansion because the airport's debt obligation will be lower, enabling it to obtain financing. The airport has not used local, general taxpayer funds for projects since 1973. It relies on bonds supported by user fees and aviation grants.

``With the leadership we have and with what Lou Miller believes, I do not see imposing a tax on taxpayers,'' Anthony said.

Thursday's presentation by airport consultant Recondo & Associates of Miami was the latest in a series of meetings that will lead to adopting an updated master plan for the airport by January.

The session revealed some new points about the proposed North Terminal:

* The new, expanded terminal, as proposed, would have as many as four airside satellites, a mirror of Tampa International's signature design in use today.

* It could be built in phases. Hillsborough Avenue would not be relocated to the north until 50 gates were built.

* The primary access to the North Terminal would be from the south, as it is today. Additional lanes to the George Bean Parkway airport access already are planned.

At some point, the airport might add access from the north, but most people will arrive from the south through an improved interchange the state is developing to link the Veterans Expressway with Interstate 275.

* The two terminals would be connected through a corridor to transport people, vehicles and a prospective light- rail system.

* The north-south runway east of the airport would be lengthened and a previously announced runway would be added to the west side.

* A taller air traffic control tower likely would be built just northwest of the current terminal. It would eliminate problems such as buildings blocking the view controllers have of certain sections of the taxiways. Air traffic controllers can see aircraft moving on the taxiways, however.

Next on the authority's task list is relocating the cargo terminal. It's in the path of the proposed North Terminal, and officials want to move it east to the Drew Park neighborhood. The airport has spent more than $100 million to acquire 84 percent of the 200 acres it seeks to purchase there.

Officials also must squeeze more room out of the current terminal to delay the construction of the new terminal as long as possible. By converting space on the third level near the airside shuttle areas, expanding security checkpoints and improving curbside congestion, officials think they can handle eight million passengers more than the terminal handles now.

The airport also could expand gate space where obsolete airsides have been demolished. Airline gates aren't the main problem. Terminal curbside areas and space inside the terminals are the ``choking points'' that will add pressure to build the new terminal sooner.


Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.
http://money.tbo.com/money/MGB2UZ7Q1AE.html

Moving Hillsborough is lame. Just tunnel dammit.

Yeah I don't know why they don't build a tunnel under hillborough ave and it would make sense to build a tunnel instead. I also always thought they should build a tunnel for westshore blvd so it could meet up with anderson road

They should only have to tunnel it under the runways, right? It's not like the terminal structures will be located that far north.

Umm, tunnels in the mud under fully loaded planes taking off and dropping out of the sky . . .I think not. - not only that but the land is low enough as it is - you want to row your car through the tunnel.

^it works elsewhere.

you want to row your car through the tunnel.

Could be fun... Tampa can get boring at times.

I read somewhere building tunnels under runways can be very expensive and dangerous. The heavily loaded planes can cause damage to the tunnel walls, especially in soft sanded Florida. I think the airport was McCarran in Las Vegas.

^There is already a tunnel under a taxiway at TIA. Whenver you go to the airport, you drive through it.

Taxiways are not runways.

I don't mind them building a tunnel under a runway if they have to, but it just might not be a financially comparable to rerouting Hillsbourgh Ave.

I doubt they'll build a tunnel -- it wouldn't just go under a runway, I think it woudl go under the new terminal in whole

If they can build a tunnel in Fort Lauderdale with its soft sandy soil, as well as river mud, they can easily do it for hillsborough avenue. The FTL tunnel goes underneath a river and it doesn't flood and weighs a hell of a lot more than a jumbo jet.

I forgot to type that the river weights a hell of a lot more than a jumbo jet

Dude, it is very unlikely to happen. The govt frowns on tunnels under runways - this was discussed years ago in relation to extending runways.

This article needs to be read by our local politicians. Light rail sounds expensive, but think about how many billions of dollars have been spent continually upgrading our freeways and interstates. They are outdated the day they are completed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050620/ap_on_re_us/congested_colorado

I was very impressed that Colorodans approved FasTracks. Looking at a map of the future rail lines shows that they're not just adding one more dinky line to Denver, they've done a very thorough job of trying to make PT accesible to all areas of the metro. I only wish Tampa and other FL cities could be this insightful. It's not that hard.

I was very impressed that Colorodans approved FasTracks. Looking at a map of the future rail lines shows that they're not just adding one more dinky line to Denver, they've done a very thorough job of trying to make PT accesible to all areas of the metro. I only wish Tampa and other FL cities could be this insightful. It's not that hard.

For a little perspective, I'm quite sure there was a time, not too many years ago, when Denverites wondered if they'd *ever* get rail. And further, Sunbelt cities like LA, Houston and Dallas had to wait until they were *many* times larger than Tampa is just to get a modest starter line going.

It'll happen.

Maybe our traffic just hasn't bad enough yet. Once delays approach gridlock, we shall see if light rail looks suddenly so appeasing.

For a little perspective, I'm quite sure there was a time, not too many years ago, when Denverites wondered if they'd *ever* get rail. And further, Sunbelt cities like LA, Houston and Dallas had to wait until they were *many* times larger than Tampa is just to get a modest starter line going.

It'll happen.

No, that's being submissive to Tampian incompetence and shortsightness.

Cities with smaller populations such as Denver, Portland, Phoenix, Charlotte, San Diego have embarked on light rail plans of various expansiveness with dramatic sucess.

We know we are growing in population and congestion and that inflation will make a future rail more difficult. Why is Tampa holding back? We do lack density, but Denver is building rail lines in bleak areas but will have many TOD projects scheduled in the area. Tampa will surely decline if it does not reform its byzantine zoning codes and get rid of its Brahmin commisioners.

Not making excuses for Tampa. Just demonstrating, with factual examples, that Tampa is in good company as regards cities where rail transit was a long time coming.

And remember that Phoenix and Charlotte have just broken groung on their lightrail, so it is premature apply the term 'dramatic success.'

"Tampa will surely decline if it does not reform its byzantine zoning codes and get rid of its Brahmin commisioners."

Dude...Brahmin. Good word (I had to look it up).

Don't let Ronda Storms hear that term, or you'll be banned from all county libraries.

you give Storms too much credit - odds are she will think that it's a referenc eto a Brahma Bull and that lou just mispronounced it because he was smellign what the Rock was cooking :)

Zoning is indeed probably the biggest bane of the region....

you give Storms too much credit - odds are she will think that it's a referenc eto a Brahma Bull and that lou just mispronounced it because he was smellign what the Rock was cooking :)

Zoning is indeed probably the biggest bane of the region....

Since I've moved here I've heard everyone criticize Storms...who elected her?

Something has to be done about transportation...whether it be another interstate or busing or rail...

Suburban Hillsborough, Michael...

And the thing is, most county commissioners aren't challenged in elections - they get re-elected with no fuss at all (Susan Latvala and a few other sin Pinellas are examples of that).

Since I've moved here I've heard everyone criticize Storms...who elected her?


Antiquated rednecks and selfish suburban NIMBYs who would probably enjoy life more in a sparse setting like the panhandle, not an urbanizing coastal metro.

I still remember Storms for her debacle over the public television channel. Good Stuff.

Brian Blair is quickly joining Storms in the pantheon of bizarre and silly commissioners

Struggling streetcars may seek fare increase
By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER, Times Staff Writer
Published June 22, 2005

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TAMPA - Ever since Tampa's streetcar system shut down in 1946, rail has been an alien concept for a city that's devoted billions in taxpayer dollars to roads, buses and aviation.


While rail enjoys a rebirth in cities such as Charlotte and San Diego, it struggles to advance past the fetal stage in Tampa.

The 2.4-mile streetcar system connecting Ybor City to the Channel District cost about $2.1-million more to operate than it earned during its second full year in 2004. So this evening, streetcar officials will ask passengers to bear more of the costs.

During a 5:30 p.m. hearing at Tampa City Hall, the nonprofit board that oversees the system, Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc., will vote on hiking rates by as much as 33 percent. One-way fares will go from $1.50 to $2; senior, disabled and youth fares from 75 cents to $1; one-day unlimited passes from $3 to $4; discount fares from $1.50 to $2. A 20-ride pass for those who live in the special taxing district along the rail will go from $15 to $20.

About 80 percent of the passengers use the one-day pass. An increase is expected to raise about $80,000 more a year, but that assumes no passengers will stop riding because of the new rates, which would make Tampa's streetcar among the costliest in the nation.

Portland's famed streetcar, for instance, costs only $1.30 for a one-way pass. New Orleans costs a dollar more for an all-day pass, but would be 75 cents cheaper for a single trip. Memphis is just 60 cents for one trip, and only $2.50 all day.

Of the 450,000 passengers who ride the streetcar every year, about two-thirds are tourists, said Ed Crawford, spokesman for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, which operates the system under an agreement with the board. Tampa's system operates with the handicap of not tapping into local tax dollars, so it must rely on other sources, said Michael English, an urban planner with WilsonMiller and president of the streetcar board.

"We're cobbling together a finance system that doesn't depend on ad valorem," English said. "There isn't one rail line in the United States that pays for itself. They're usually supported by the public."

Hillsborough County's political climate forbids the use of local tax dollars on rail. These limitations make it difficult for the streetcar system, which is expected to pay for itself, to compete with roads, which are paved and widened with taxpayer dollars.

County Commissioner Brian Blair thinks it was premature to introduce a streetcar to an area with few residents.

"They should put the streetcar in mothballs until enough development is downtown to support it," Blair said.

Yet the proposed fare increases won't draw his fire, even though he thinks they might be a bit inflated.

"If the folks who ride our buses were paying for these rate increases, I'd have a problem with it," Blair said. "But most of the people who ride these streetcars are tourists. I don't think they'll mind."

Streetcar officials will look for other income sources.

City Council member John Dingfelder, who was recently appointed to the HARTline board, wants people who live along its rail line to contribute, as well.

Right now, only businesses pay an assessment of about 33 cents for each $1,000 they pay in taxable value. Officials originally decided to exempt residents in Ybor and the Channel District because they didn't want to burden poor residents with the costs.

But the demographics of the area are changing. Condominium projects and townhome renovations are luring young professionals and empty nesters to Ybor and the Channel District. Developers regularly tout the streetcar in brochures promoting projects.

"I believe property values increase the closer you get to the tracks," Dingfelder said. "So I think it's fair to ask that they pay. For a $300,000 condo, you're only talking about $100 a year."

Still, these same standards aren't applied to roads. It will cost more than $150-million to widen Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, which will allow further development along its corridor. State and local taxpayers are paying those costs, however.

Dingfelder said he expects the City Council to discuss the assessment in July.

Poor residents who remain in Ybor should expect to pay an extra $15 a year because their property values haven't increased, he said. As more residents move into housing along the tracks, the new assessment could raise as much as $1-million.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/22/Hillsborough/Struggling_streetcars.shtml

Antiquated rednecks and selfish suburban NIMBYs who would probably enjoy life more in a sparse setting like the panhandle, not an urbanizing coastal metro.

Well maybe now we can get someone to challenege these morons and we can vote them out.

Developer floats Tampa-St. Pete ferry idea
By Times Staff
Published June 7, 2005

Buyers of Seaboard Square condos might get a perk beyond the health club and granite counter tops: a fast boat to carry them across Tampa Bay.

Roger Gatewood, developer of the project in Tampa's Channel District, has hired a marketing communications firm to study business prospects for a high-speed ferry connecting downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg.

People want to live in the emerging neighborhood so they can work and play without the grind of driving, he said. The service would use a catamaran able to hit speeds up to 40 mph and make the trip in 35 to 45 minutes, said Jeff Morrow, a senior account executive who is overseeing the study for St. Petersburg's Glasure Group.

The firm is conducting surveys to figure out the potential market for the cross-bay ferry. When that's finished in three to six months, Gatewood says, the firm will put a pencil to operating costs and recommend a course of action.

Plans call for Seaboard Square, formerly called Channelside Village, to have condos ranging from the high $200,000s to the high $400,000s, plus retail and office space and a 120-room hotel.

--Information from Times staff writer Steve Huettel, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.
[Last modified June 7, 2005, 02:15:48]

-----------------------------

Channel 10 has a link to the study on their news story. I could not directly link to the study. If you want to participate, visit here: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=14870 look on the right hand menu

^You gotta pay attention to what you post. The article was actually pretty short, with the end of it being another story about baby formula, and then advertisements... I deleted that stuff though...

Struggling streetcars may seek fare increase

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER,
St Petersburg Times Staff Writer
Published June 22, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAMPA - Ever since Tampa's streetcar system shut down in 1946, rail has been an alien concept for a city that's devoted billions in taxpayer dollars to roads, buses and aviation.


While rail enjoys a rebirth in cities such as Charlotte and San Diego, it struggles to advance past the fetal stage in Tampa.

The 2.4-mile streetcar system connecting Ybor City to the Channel District cost about $2.1-million more to operate than it earned during its second full year in 2004. So this evening, streetcar officials will ask passengers to bear more of the costs.

During a 5:30 p.m. hearing at Tampa City Hall, the nonprofit board that oversees the system, Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc., will vote on hiking rates by as much as 33 percent. One-way fares will go from $1.50 to $2; senior, disabled and youth fares from 75 cents to $1; one-day unlimited passes from $3 to $4; discount fares from $1.50 to $2. A 20-ride pass for those who live in the special taxing district along the rail will go from $15 to $20.

About 80 percent of the passengers use the one-day pass. An increase is expected to raise about $80,000 more a year, but that assumes no passengers will stop riding because of the new rates, which would make Tampa's streetcar among the costliest in the nation.

Portland's famed streetcar, for instance, costs only $1.30 for a one-way pass. New Orleans costs a dollar more for an all-day pass, but would be 75 cents cheaper for a single trip. Memphis is just 60 cents for one trip, and only $2.50 all day.

Of the 450,000 passengers who ride the streetcar every year, about two-thirds are tourists, said Ed Crawford, spokesman for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, which operates the system under an agreement with the board. Tampa's system operates with the handicap of not tapping into local tax dollars, so it must rely on other sources, said Michael English, an urban planner with WilsonMiller and president of the streetcar board.

"We're cobbling together a finance system that doesn't depend on ad valorem," English said. "There isn't one rail line in the United States that pays for itself. They're usually supported by the public."

Hillsborough County's political climate forbids the use of local tax dollars on rail. These limitations make it difficult for the streetcar system, which is expected to pay for itself, to compete with roads, which are paved and widened with taxpayer dollars.

County Commissioner Brian Blair thinks it was premature to introduce a streetcar to an area with few residents.

"They should put the streetcar in mothballs until enough development is downtown to support it," Blair said.

Yet the proposed fare increases won't draw his fire, even though he thinks they might be a bit inflated.

"If the folks who ride our buses were paying for these rate increases, I'd have a problem with it," Blair said. "But most of the people who ride these streetcars are tourists. I don't think they'll mind."

Streetcar officials will look for other income sources.

City Council member John Dingfelder, who was recently appointed to the HARTline board, wants people who live along its rail line to contribute, as well.

Right now, only businesses pay an assessment of about 33 cents for each $1,000 they pay in taxable value. Officials originally decided to exempt residents in Ybor and the Channel District because they didn't want to burden poor residents with the costs.

But the demographics of the area are changing. Condominium projects and townhome renovations are luring young professionals and empty nesters to Ybor and the Channel District. Developers regularly tout the streetcar in brochures promoting projects.

"I believe property values increase the closer you get to the tracks," Dingfelder said. "So I think it's fair to ask that they pay. For a $300,000 condo, you're only talking about $100 a year."

Still, these same standards aren't applied to roads. It will cost more than $150-million to widen Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, which will allow further development along its corridor. State and local taxpayers are paying those costs, however.

Dingfelder said he expects the City Council to discuss the assessment in July.

Poor residents who remain in Ybor should expect to pay an extra $15 a year because their property values haven't increased, he said. As more residents move into housing along the tracks, the new assessment could raise as much as $1-million.

Despite the fact that I think the Ybor trolley system is great for the area and Tampa, I just don't see it lasting that much longer with a budget operating at a deficit like that. Plus it can't get public funding the way buses do, even further dooming it.

^yeah, don't you just love how the poeple around here bitch about subsidizing public transit (like busses and rail), yet they drive around all day long on billions of dollars worth of subsidized public transportation (roads), and are constantly demanding billions more be spent.

Since its inception, the trolley just so happens to have significantly exceeded the traffic projections touted before it was built. It also happens to be a catalyst in billions worth of DT development... It's not like the trolley has bombed or something.

People are so ignorant around here on certain issues, that I just can't f***ing stand it sometimes. I used to wonder how people can be so ignorant and myopic, but then I found out that Tampa area residents are some of the most poorly educated people in Any US metro of 2 million or more.

People are so ignorant around here on certain issues, that I just can't f***ing stand it sometimes. I used to wonder how people can be so ignorant and myopic, but then I found out that Tampa area residents are some of the most poorly educated people in Any US metro of 2 million or more.
I know exactly what you're talking about, and people's ignorance, and also their chosing not to enlighten themselves, makes me want to scream. Regardless, I think this is a national issue, too. I think most Americans, whether in Tampa, Boston or San Francisco, belive the myth that our auto-centric transportation system doesn't rely on government subsidies. If only they knew what our highway system costs them. And you know what, they don't want to know. I think it's very sad that other developed countries comparable to the States (Canada, Australia) have done a good job of providing mass transit in their cities, while many American cities continue merrily down the road of clogged freeways and unchecked sprawl. I guess they're going to get what they deserve. Too bad the rest of us have to live with the consequences of their idiocy.

The people will be seeing those effects in the next ten years as grow outstripes supply. Its just too bad they can't see the train wreck thats ahead of them.

I know it's a little off topic, but there was some mention of Rhonda Storms in this thread. I thought this was kind of funny.

They want to oust her over the Gay thing. I say get her out for ANY reason we can.

StopRondaStorms.com

^Absolutely!!!!

My rant on Storms: I'm in agreement that she needs to be given the boot. Not only for the recent discrimination stuff, but just for the simple fact that the woman has no clue of what she's doing a majority of the time. Everything she does is out of her own personal agenda, regardless of the greater good.
A friend of my family's is in a high position at the port and even the people at the port hate her. Know why? She's on the board of directors for the port and from what I've been told, she has no idea of what she's doing there either. Completely incompetent.

I mean, WHY and HOW was she reelected to the commission?

Sorry for being off topic, but its good to get it off my chest...

BEcause she is like many of the people in Plant City, Seffner, Brandon, etc.

Tampa lacks political consciousness and cohesiveness. The posterboy for sprawl, Los Angeles, surprisingly has a very virbrant political atmosphere.

When does her term run out?

Widen it, fine, but all this other stuff - hte closing of exits - the "plaza" free tolls - that is all primed for disaster, but trust in URS - they always do such a nice job . . .

Plans Made To Widen Veterans Expressway
By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN ebrown@tampatrib.com
Published: Jun 25, 2005




LUTZ - Preliminary planning for a major expansion of the Veterans Expressway is under way.

The project would widen the toll road from four to eight lanes along the 12-mile stretch from Memorial Highway to Van Dyke Road.

Once completed, the 10-year-old expressway would turn into a high-tech roadway with no toll plazas slowing down commuters.

Contractors would tear down the toll booths at the Anderson and Sugarwood plazas and replace them with an electronic toll collection system, said Ron Gregory, a project manager at URS, an engineering and design consulting firm.

Gregory gave an overview of the project Tuesday to members of the Lutz transportation task force.

The planning study is the first step to upgrading the roadway to meet increasing traffic demand. For the past month, turnpike officials have met with civic groups in small gatherings to introduce the project and get feedback. A larger public information meeting is planned for January.

The project's design phase would begin next year, followed by right-of-way acquisition in 2007. Construction of the segment from Memorial to Anderson Road is scheduled to begin in 2010 and be completed in 2012.

Gregory said the Sawgrass Expressway in Broward County is a prototype for the open road tolling system, where tolls are taken electronically without plazas.

The system is more efficient, reduces delays, and improves traffic flow, because drivers don't have to slow down to pay tolls, he said. Vehicles will drive through gantries that will read a Sunpass transponder at 70 mph.

Turnpike officials are considering closing the Anderson ramp, because of flat revenue.

Tom Jones, president of the Carrollwood Area Association of Neighborhoods, said closing the Anderson ramp would be inconvenient for Carrollwood residents, because it forces drivers to use the already clogged exits at Waters or Linebaugh avenues.

"I just find that rather troubling, especially if there's no other improvements to Waters and Linebaugh," he said.

Gregory noted Jones' concerns and said the turnpike may reconstruct the Linebaugh ramps to make it a full interchange.

The study also will examine the need for noise walls in segments to be widened. Planners don't expect adding lanes to the 3-mile spur alignment to North Dale Mabry Highway. They anticipate buying about eight acres for new stormwater treatment facilities.

The expressway has a limited right-of-way that is 250 feet wide. Adding four additional lanes, shoulders, stormwater ponds and wetland mitigation areas will be difficult, Gregory said.

"This corridor is very tight," he said. "We have to use practically every foot."

http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGBNSTA0DAE.html

If they close the Anderson toll, it would hurt a lot of businesses. Anderson/Waters intersection has bumper to bumper traffic as it is. This would add to it since it forces expressway drivers to drive all the way to Waters. The movie theatre, Green Iguana, Vallartas etc.. would also suffer. Hell i would suffer. I live off the exit myself. Now if they figure out how to turn a 2 lane portion of highway into 6-8 lanes, I would be waiting with some popcorn.

The point is that taking out the toll plaza is one thing, but to take away the :bash: exit...

Send them a letter- i think it moronic to remove an exit that is already there - but they are morons.

^I am assuming they have to remove it, since the existing one probably has to be torn down for the widening. I think it's the one structure along the expressway that wasn't prebuilt for future widening.

If I'm wrong on that assumption, then they really are morons, because one drive through the area during rush hour tells you that having that additional access point is important. If they really want to know why it isn't used much, it's because nobody can get on or off from the north. IMO, both Linebaugh and Anderson should be made into full interchanges.

Hopefully they will ask for some public opinion on the matter before they come up with a final plan. Maybe placing a smaller limited exit expressway in the middle of the new road would work to improve traffic.

I am not sure if it is too narrow - I know that the merge from the toll booth goes under the exit, but I think it may still be 3-4 lanes. Whatever - if they did not build it for expansion in the first place, they should be fired - like the area isn't growing and the only way to get around is a car.

Planning for the future doesn't seem to be on the top of transportation officials lists.

NO, but it is fiscally responsible - and actually a number of the bridges on the Veterans are clearly already built for expansion - though I think only to 3 lanes, not 4.

^Actually, they did very little of that... Only south of the Waters plaza in fact. (and yes, only to 6 total lanes). I believe the Vets was actually supposed to be 6 lanes south of Waters from the start, but budget cuts and the fear of low traffic (ala the Crosstown in the 70s) nixed that... What they did do alot of, was build the overpasses over surface streets extra long, so that surface streets could be widened later on, without having to interfere with the expressway. Several key overpasses were built to allow for up to 8 lane divided avenues to go underneath the expressway.

Of course, time is proving those plans to actually be a waste of money, now that the expressway will basically have to be torn up and totally rebuilt as an 8 lane expressway.

I think they will jsut "paste" some lanes on like they did when they widened 275 - they just slapped some extra lanes on the side ofthe bridges.

^ehh...I hope they do a better job of it than was done from Bearss to Busch on I-275.

Well they have 5 years to think it over, to get it right.

Tampa stands out for making commuting easier
Tampa's downtown has been designated as a Best Workplaces for Commuters District, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The two agencies recognize downtown districts that provide benefits for commuters, said Kevin Tingley, EPA program manager, in a release.

As part of its commuter benefits program, Tampa's downtown promotes commuting options and support services such as carpool and vanpooling programs with heavily subsidized vehicles, free emergency ride home program, bike racks and shower facilities, reduced fare on the downtown circulators and a point person for transportation-related inquiries.

"If just half of all U.S. employees were covered under commuter benefits such as these, traffic and air pollution could be cut by the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road every year, saving American workers about $12 billion in fuel costs," Tingley said.

Tampa has more than 51,000 workers and 400 residents in its downtown. With current development, Tampa is on track to add more than 5,500 new residents downtown by 2008.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2005/06/27/daily18.html

Widening, Toll Plan Would Cut Gridlock
By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN ebrown@tampatrib.com
Published: Jul 10, 2005




TAMPA - Sharon Calvo is tired of the Veterans Expressway being transformed into a parking lot.
So the northwest Hillsborough County resident is excited about a proposed major widening of the toll road that could bring relief by 2012 from bad backups and dreadful delays. Authorities also are talking about a more sophisticated electronic toll system that could eliminate the need for toll plazas.

``It's certainly long overdue, both the widening and the open-road tolling,'' said Calvo, who lives in Villa Rosa. ``You do have to applaud their realization that they have to do something.''

That something could mean expanding the Veterans from four to eight lanes along the 12-mile stretch from Memorial Highway to Van Dyke Road. The expressway's 3-mile link to North Dale Mabry Highway probablywon't be affected.

State transportation planners are studying how to double capacity on the expressway, where traffic and congestion have escalated since it opened in 1994 because of booming growth in northwest Hillsborough County, Pasco County to the north and beyond.

As more drivers hit the toll road, cars frequently sit in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic: southbound in the morning, northbound in the evening. A particularly troublesome spot is the Anderson Road toll plaza, where 53,200motorists a day slow down to pay their way.

``It's a long, long backup,'' Calvo said.

That's why planners are looking at overhauling it. The plaza causes daily rush-hour bottlenecks because vehicles slow down, funnel through 17 booths and merge back into the two lanes in each direction.

The changes could include adding express lanes similar to those on the Suncoast Parkway that allow drivers with Sunpass to bypass the plaza at highway speed.

The ultimate improvement would be an electronic toll collection system. The Sawgrass Expressway in Broward County is a prototype for open-road tolling, where tolls are paid without plazas.

``We're not saying we'll have the same thing on the Veterans when we upgrade that. We might, but we don't want to promise that,'' said Joanne Hurley, spokeswoman for Florida's Turnpike Enterprise.

The planning study will determine what improvements are recommended, she said.

The study is focusing on the roadway's south end and the congestion between Waters Avenue and Wilsky Boulevard.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2010 and be completed in 2012. However, only the $25.2 million stretch from Memorial Highway to Anderson Road is funded in the long- range transportation plans.

The timing of the Veterans expansion coincides with the completion of the $202 million Tampa Interchanges project, a major reconfiguration of State Road 60 from Interstate 275 to the Courtney Campbell Parkway and around the airport.

To the north, Calvo helped form a coalition of homeowners groups along Lutz- Lake Fern Road who lobbied for an earlier opening of ramps for quicker access onto the Suncoast Parkway and Veterans Expressway.

Last year, the number of Veterans Expressway users jumped 8.5 percent, from an average 49,000 to 53,200 vehicles a day at the Anderson plaza.

``When it opened 10 years ago, people thought that nobody would ever use that road,'' Hurley said.

The 18-month planning study is the first step to upgrading the roadway. For the past month, turnpike officials have met with civic groups in small gatherings to introduce the project and get feedback. A larger public information meeting is planned for January.


Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502.

http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGBRX4POYAE.html

Getting onto I-275 north gets tricky

Use the Ashley Drive ramp? Starting Sunday night, plan on not using it for several months.

St Petersburg Times
By BRIAN WHITE
Published July 13, 2005

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TAMPA - Starting Sunday night, the streams of cars that drive onto Interstate 275 north from Ashley Drive each day will have to start home a new way.

The entrance ramp could be closed for as long as seven months as part of a project to reconfigure "Malfunction Junction" near downtown.

Because the state knows it will inconvenience commuters, it is providing the contractor with some motivation to work fast - $10,000 a day worth of motivation.

That's how much the California contractor Granite Construction will receive for each day under 200 the project takes to complete, said Florida Department of Transportation spokesman John McShaffrey. The bonus applies for a maximum of 50 days early.

For each day over 200, the contractor must pay the state $10,000.

Though most projects have a fine if contractors run over the time limit, the state only looks for ways to "dangle the carrot" on projects like the Ashley Drive ramp closing that are disruptive to the public, McShaffrey said.

"We know that was an important ramp to downtown," he said.

The 200 days are up on Feb. 2, though the contractor hopes to finish by mid December, McShaffrey said.

Only the portion of the ramp that leads to I-275 north will be closed; commuters will still be able to use the ramp to reach I-275 south from downtown.

The exit ramp from I-275 north to Scott Street will also be closed during the construction, which is part of the $80-million renovation of the interchange between I-275 and Interstate 4. The exit from I-275 onto Ashley Drive will remain open.

The entire project is scheduled to be finished by next spring, McShaffrey said. It aims to ease congestion around the interchange, as well as reduce the amount of weaving through traffic required to get from one interstate to the other, he said.

McShaffrey said commuters who want to get to either I-275 north or I-4 should use the on-ramp at Scott and Jefferson streets. He said the detour should not cause too much extra congestion, but some commuters worried it would slow down their trip home.

Melanie Conwell, 41, said she and her husband usually park in a garage on Ashley.

"It's so nice to be able to pull out of the parking garage and go straight down to the interstate," said Conwell, an administrative assistant at a downtown law firm.

Other commuters avoid the Ashley ramp even when it's not under construction. Joining I-275 via the short merge lane from the Ashley ramp can be a frightening challenge.

Rachel Shellman, a 30-year-old librarian, uses an alternate entrance via Scott Street.

"I go that way already because it's safer," she said.

Even after the ramp reopens, officials hope drivers continue using the alternate routes. The new interstate will expand from three lanes to eight, four of which go to I-4. Motorists using the Ashley ramp will have to cross those four lanes to get to I-275, which could be more difficult than the current setup.

Here are the alternate routes: The ramp at Scott and Jefferson streets splits for the two interstates. Drivers should follow the left ramp for I-275 and the right ramp for I-4.

There are two ways to get to the Scott Street on-ramp. In both cases, northbound drivers should turn right onto Cass Street from Ashley Drive. Cars can then turn left on Florida Avenue and then right on Scott to the ramp.

Several lanes on Scott are closed, so there is not enough room for trucks to turn from Florida onto Scott.

Trucks can continue down Cass to Jefferson Street and turn left. Jefferson becomes N Orange Avenue, and goes to the on-ramp.

More information on the interchange construction project is available at www.mytbi.com under the Downtown Tampa Interchange heading.

Under a thread on the transportation section of SSP.

The House of Representatives approved a whole slew of mass-transit projects.

Two of these are;

Tampa Regional Rail

and

Central Florida commuter rail

http://www.cfrail.com/fdot/index/cfrail.init&id=90173031ce3fc50fb620ff945007f47&cat=CFRAILINITCOMMUTER

I love commuter rail, pretty romantic.

Does anyone know what the Tampa Bay regional rail is? I never thought I would ever type rail after Tampa.

Tampa Regional Rail? Does that have anything to do with Jim Sebesta's proposal last year? If so, that would be a good thing :yes:

Here's a link to a Times acticle on the story http://sptimes.com/2005/07/30/Tampabay/Bay_area_collects_for.shtml

The article says nothing about commuter rail in Tampa, but it does say that Temple Terrace is getting $2.8 mill for their town center project and we get 800 grand for the Crosstown/I-4 connector. That really doesn't sound like much, I don't remember how much the grand total on that project was.

Tampa Rail.org reports that the new highway bill actually approves FHSR's cooridor on the first leg (tampa to orlando).

Really? That would be quite an unexpected development, for me at least. I thought that was dead for the forseeable future.

Regional rail must be the high speed rail thing. On Tamparail.org, they are only doing an environmental asessment study, which doesn't mean it is actually going to happen.

Lets hope it happens! I thought the Florida High Speed Rail project was dead for good.

Tampa to Orlando would be a very productive route. A lot of these cities bissunesses are linked. Also tourist would benefit. Going from Disney to the beach would be nice without having to drive an hour and a half on I-4. :)

Just as long as it is used as a real high speed connector from Orlando to Tampa, not just some new Disney connection to bring in tourists.

Who else but tourist will use it though? I'm not going to rent a car after spending 6 dollars on a ticket to Orlando. I'll bear the traffic of I-4 to have my car. Only tourists would do such a thing.

Bullshit, Lou. I have friends who worked in Orlando and commuted home on a normal basis...

It's called commuting - and people do it.

There are 5 or 6 people that I know that work in Tampa and commute from Orlando every day. I'd hate to do it, but they say you just come to work early, and leave work early to make the commute a little easier.

Lets give it a comparison -- and I know you guys will hate it because I am comparing two entirely different regions:

Upstate NY and Long Island NY commuting into NYC...

You have people from as far east as 90+ miles taking the Long Island Rail Road each day into Manhattan... You have people from southern Upstate NY (or even Washington and Boston) commuting via rail to the city...

In the case of TB and Orlando - both are so sprawled, commuting between the two cities is what is going to occur. Some labor force commuting to Tampa from Orlando, some labor force commuting to Orlando from Tampa.... Why is that such a foreign subject to certain people?

Yes, there is supporting infrastructure (more rail and or taxis and buses) in NY to allow the commute... Those functions would be tacked on with demand in Orlando / Tampa. It's not an impossibility.

Well hopefully if people do use the train to go to work in Orlando everyday, there will be stations other than Disney where it stops.

One definite plus for all of us. Everyone in the area will have a choice of two of the nation's best airports. If I could take the train to MCO and find non-stops that might not be in Tampa, I'd definitely do it ...

As much as I love flying out of Tampa when I go to London each summer, I sometimes find cheaper flights out of Orlando but the distance is too far to go by car.

Lets give it a comparison -- and I know you guys will hate it because I am comparing two entirely different regions:

Upstate NY and Long Island NY commuting into NYC...

You have people from as far east as 90+ miles taking the Long Island Rail Road each day into Manhattan... You have people from southern Upstate NY (or even Washington and Boston) commuting via rail to the city...

In the case of TB and Orlando - both are so sprawled, commuting between the two cities is what is going to occur. Some labor force commuting to Tampa from Orlando, some labor force commuting to Orlando from Tampa.... Why is that such a foreign subject to certain people?

Yes, there is supporting infrastructure (more rail and or taxis and buses) in NY to allow the commute... Those functions would be tacked on with demand in Orlando / Tampa. It's not an impossibility.

I understand what commuting is of course. There are Orlandoers who work in Tampa and vice-versa, but is the traffic situation between both cities so severe that would force someone to take Tampa's crappy inefficient bus system to the train station, and deal with another another crappy inefficient bus system where they may have to make multiple connections??


Tampa and Orlando are de-centralized multi-nodal cities, it would be alittle more convincing if all the office professional jobs were actually centralized in each respective downtown.

We need light rail in both cities with TODs instead.

I've read that HART is actually pretty decent, as bus systems go.

Of course if the high speed train becomes a reality then the bus system would have to be changed to fit in with it. Light rail would be a nice addition later on the exisisting train service.

I've read that HART is actually pretty decent, as bus systems go.

Not if you talk to Ronda Storms and other HCC's. To them, HARTline should be dismantled because it's a waste and beauracracy...

Study aims to steer buses away from Williams Park
A group says Williams Park should be a spot to relax in the heart of the city but the flow of buses shatters the ambience.
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 3, 2005

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ST. PETERSBURG - As new building projects start changing the dynamic around Williams Park, downtown leaders are wondering what to do about the de facto bus depot enclosing the greensward on three sides.

A $500,000 federal grant is expected to help them figure it out.

It will mean money for a study aimed at finding another place for the buses, said Joe Kubicki, the city's transportation and parking director.

The new location - which likely will remain downtown - could become a combination bus terminal and parking center.

"It doesn't mean Williams Park won't continue to be a bus stop. It just won't be a permanent transit terminal facility with layovers," Kubicki said.

Buses have started and ended their routes at Williams Park for more than a half-century, often laying over for several minutes between runs. The park is a square block, situated between Third and Fourth streets N, bounded by First and Second avenues.

A group looking at Williams Park's future says the buses hurt the park's ambience, adding noise and fumes to what should be a relaxing spot in downtown's heart.

The planning committee, which includes elected and appointed government officials, business people, faith-based organizations and neighborhood leaders, has made what it calls the "bus issue" a priority.

"It's a dumb way to use a park, ring it with buses," said Karl Nurse, an entrepreneur who is president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations and a member of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority's board. The PSTA is the countywide bus agency, whose vehicles stop at the park.

Nurse also is part of the Williams Park group, which has met a couple of times since spring. It held a planning session on June 18, when the buses became a topic.

Transportation officials are reacting in a measured way to the talk of moving one of their longtime terminals.

"We're just going to keep working on the issue. It's really in the early, early stages," PSTA spokeswoman Janet Recca said.

The buses are only one of the issues the Williams Park committee is examining.

Homeless people frequenting the park long have been cited by business people as problematic. Discussion continues about what to do with the park's bandstand. So does defining the elements most likely to bring the park back to broad-based popularity.

"One of the problems with the park is that it hasn't had enough active uses," architect and park futurist Tim Clemmons said.

More activity will tend to reduce the perceived problems with some park idlers, Clemmons said.

"If you have 400 people and 40 are homeless, you don't notice. The big trick is getting more people to hang out," he said.

It's almost certain to become an option. Across Third Street N, Progress Energy will establish corporate headquarters. A luxury hotel and condominiums are planned. St. Petersburg College is expanding its presence.

That pocket boom, happening within a downtown already well into an upsurge, is why Williams Park is getting attention.

Downtown Partnership president Don Shea, who is helping lead the Williams Park initiative, said he plans to present a report on the committee's progress to Mayor Rick Baker soon.

Shea is an advocate of reducing the presence of the buses at Williams Park. Besides figuring out where they will go, other planning implications remain.

For example, what about the fat bus lane bordering the park on Fourth Street N? It currently cuts a chunk from the one-way southbound traffic lanes.

"Depending on how many buses actually use Williams Park as a stop, we may need to keep that lane," Shea said.

"What I'm most interested in is not having them idling on First Avenue N."

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 00:36:17]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/03/Neighborhoodtimes/Study_aims_to_steer_b.shtml


They should move the terminal to Tropicana Field -- put that underutilized space to some good use. They could build a nice multi-modal terminal for the bus and future monorail system, with a garage for park and ride. There could be a couple shuttle routes from the main terminal into the DT core along with the trolley.

Anyone for mass transit?

Can ever-busier Bayshore go with the flow?
The city traffic gurus say the boulevard can handle nearly 15,000 more trips a day. Many who drive it every day say no way.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published August 5, 2005

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HYDE PARK NORTH - The developments keep coming to Bayshore Boulevard, and so do the cars.

In the past few years, the City Council has approved four condominium towers, a hotel and a major expansion of Tampa General Hospital near Bayshore and Platt Street.

City transportation officials say the roads can handle the extra traffic, but some motorists who drive in the area question their findings.

"I'm still concerned," said City Council member Linda Saul-Sena, who lives on Davis Islands. "I'm skeptical of the conclusion that we can add this number of new trips and have a viable transportation system on that portion of Bayshore."

On July 28 transportation officials presented the council with a study of traffic impacts of two condo towers at Bayshore and Platt, a boutique hotel at Platt and Plant Avenue, a condo tower at 319 Bayshore Blvd., and a hospital expansion, which includes a 125,000-square-foot building and 1,400-space parking garage.

The study, which the council requested in response to residents' concerns about traffic, determined that the projects would add 14,769 trips a day. Of those, 1,127 would be during the peak morning rush hour and 1,283 during the peak evening rush hour.

The city conducted the study for informational purposes and does not plan to take action on it.

Even with the additional cars, the roads will continue to operate acceptably, said Roy LaMotte, manager of the city's transportation division. In a worst case scenario, drivers will experience a 14-second delay, he said.

Some people aren't convinced.

Kathy McLeroy, who lives on Davis Islands, wonders about the accuracy of LaMotte's assessment, which is based on computer models.

"I don't care what the computer models say is happening. It's different than what's actually happening," said McLeroy, who opposed the Tampa General expansion in part because of traffic concerns.

She said she already waits a long time on Adalia Street to turn left onto Davis Boulevard to leave the island.

LaMotte said the computer model, which is based on actual counts of existing traffic, is reliable and used as the national standard. Although traffic is sometimes heavy on Bayshore near downtown, it keeps moving, he said.

That could change once improvements suggested by the Bayshore Task Force are made, LaMotte said. Mayor Pam Iorio created the task force to come up with recommendations for improving safety on Bayshore.

Some of the recommendations: Put a stop sign at the foot of the Davis Islands bridge where it meets Bayshore, add a signal on Bayshore at Platt, and install a left-turn lane to access Verne Street from Bayshore.

Not all of the task force's suggestions will come to fruition, LaMotte said, but the left turn lane onto Verne Street is critical. More than 25 rear-end accidents have occurred at the intersection in the past three years, he said.

Meanwhile, drivers say Bayshore often backs up with traffic headed downtown.

"If either the Convention Center or the Forum has a big event, it's challenging," Saul-Sena said. "If they both do, it's a disaster."

Ellen Zusman, who owns rental property on Hyde Park Place and Beach Place, said new projects planned for the area, plus thousands of residential units slated for the Channel District, are going to cause additional problems.

"In a lot of ways, it's what everybody in the city has been waiting for - for us to have a vibrant downtown. But that will only work if plans are made to make sure that when there's an event happening, people can get home and people can leave their homes," Zusman said.

"Something needs to be done to alleviate the traffic. It's not a wise idea to wait until the traffic is there and then try to figure out what we're going to do about it."

- Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 4, 2005, 08:43:14]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/05/Citytimes/Can_ever_busier_Baysh.shtml

If we dont do something about mass transit, in a few years downtown will be full of gridlock. We need to do light rail or something, even better busing would help some.

Gridlock...... I think transportation planners in our area love that word.

Maybe they are trying to make Tampa appear even more urban by creating all this traffic. I mean they want a 24 hour downtown...maybe the traffic is what will keep people downtown. Ah, who knows.

Getting stuck in busy rush hour traffic in a city like Tampa would make me want to avoid driving in the downtown area.

^Which is why living in the DT area becomes all the more alluring.

^ and expensive

^Well, spend more money on an urban home, or spend your money on a car (upkeep, gas, mileage)), yard upkeep, high utility bills and wither your life away commuting... The choice is each of ours to make.

U.S. 19 on unstoppable course
Officials estimate that by 2012 the overpasses will be complete and drivers in Pinellas County will be able to go 13 miles without stopping.
By WILL VAN SANT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 7, 2005

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It has taken time and money, but stretches of U.S. 19 in mid and north Pinellas County are being remade, and big upgrades are nearly complete.

Long infamous as a pedestrian graveyard and a source of driver frustration, the state began three years ago to replace signalized intersections with overpasses and interchanges.

When finished, the overpasses will turn a large portion of congested U.S. 19 into a controlled access highway, with drivers able to zip north and south without having to stop at traffic lights.

Work on the Drew Street overpass began in 2002. Early next year, the $30-million project will become the first of the overpasses completed.

Along the base of the Drew Street overpass, also called a flyover, is a decorative relief of dolphins, turtles and seashells. The rest of the planned overpasses will have the same sea creature theme.

In summer 2007, flyovers are scheduled to be finished just to the north, at Coachman Road and Sunset Point Road. The cost of construction will be $43.3-million.

County Commissioner Karen Seel has been a key force behind the projects. She has lobbied to get state and federal legislators, and the money they control, behind the projects.

When Seel decided five years ago to make U.S. 19 improvements her issue, she said some told her it was a stupid political move. According to Seel, the message was: The road is a mess and nothing can be done, you'll look like a failure. So why get involved?

"And I said, "Because it's a dangerous road,' " recalled Seel. " "And I'm in office to fix problems.' "

Although other work has been done on U.S. 19 in the intervening years, it was always recognized that the real fix was the flyovers. With completion of the first flyovers in sight, Seel is jubilant.

"I'm very pleased, very pleased for the public," she said. "We are going to have a safer road in the near future."

Slated next for construction are flyovers at 118th Avenue and 110th Avenue. Work on the $61.6-million project will begin next summer and should take four years to complete.

Work on a flyover at Enterprise Road, a $42-million project, will begin in 2007. It should take about four years to finish.

In 2009, work on flyovers at Gulf to Bay Boulevard, Seville Drive and Belleair Road is to begin. As part of those projects, Nursery Road will be routed to parallel access roads and its traffic signals removed.

The cost of those projects: $130-million.

It's not just U.S. 19 that is getting the flyover treatment either. In the transportation bill just passed by Congress, $1.6-million has been allocated for design of a pedestrian-bike bridge over U.S. 19 just south of Belleair Road.

The bridge will be part of the Progress Energy Trail, which is under design.

While the U.S. 19 construction has led some to complain about delays, Seel said the public recognizes the need and she praised the state Department of Transportation for keeping the projects on track and ensuring access to businesses.

All the flyovers now planned are scheduled to be done by 2012, Seel said. That would allow a driver to travel nearly 13 miles on U.S. 19, from Mainlands Boulevard in Pinellas Park to Hammock Pine Boulevard in Palm Harbor, without stopping.

"Hallelujah," Seel said. "That will finally give Pinellas County a north-south highway. It will give us great connectivity between St. Petersburg and the north."

Will Van Sant can be reached at 445-4166 or vansant@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 7, 2005, 01:31:12]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/07/Northpinellas/US_19_on_unstoppable_.shtml

Someday Pinellas will need to build a north south highway or interstate that runs straight off of I-275 near St. Pete north bypassing into Pasco County and eventually meeting up with I-75. Taking I-275 to get to I-75 or I-4 through Tampa will just get too congested.

You know how many BILLIONS of dollars that will cost?

I thought it was a consensus that the county was built out. US 19 should be made a limited access highway. The problem with the road is that it's pulling double duty due to poor zoning -- it's a commuter highway as well as a commercial boulevard...

There will be no other raod - McMullen Booth could have been that road - but they did not have the vision for it.

Pasco will need and east west road eventually - but they don't have the vision now.

The lack of a regional board guarantees the failure of the system.

Just some more happy campers on Harbor Island using the "tax and voter base" armlock to try and pinch Mayor Pam.


Harbour Islanders Feel Trapped
By JANIS D. FROELICH
jfroelich@tampatrib.com


TAMPA - Harbour Island residents are upset about being captives in their urban paradise.
Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden, a resident there since 1997, said it recently took him 25 minutes to travel a couple of blocks when the Tampa Convention Center and the St. Pete Times Forum held events.

``I counted five pedestrian crosswalks,'' Belden said of his trip to pick up his son at a Publix supermarket on Platt Street.

Belden was among the island residents who met with Mayor Pam Iorio and John Moors, Tampa Convention Center administrator of facilities and tourism, a week ago to air concerns about traffic.

Moors acknowledged the situation is difficult.

``Some days you can shoot a cannon down the street,'' Moors said. ``Five minutes after a hockey game, it's gridlock.''

Belden said he understands that he lives in a hub of city life - on a former phosphate island now populated with pricey houses, condominiums and town houses - but he and others are concerned that Harbour Island residents have only two ways to get on and off the island, both congested.

``Embassy Suites is under construction, Channelside is on fire and Brandon traffic will soon dump into Meridian'' Street, said John Fitzgibbons, a lawyer who has been a Harbour Island resident since 1991. ``How could a firetruck possibly get through?''

There are two bridges to the island: One is an extension of Franklin Street, which becomes Harbour Island Boulevard, and the other, on Beneficial Drive, crosses Garrison Channel near the busy Channelside complex and the city's streetcar line.

Last year, the city reconfigured Franklin Street in front of the convention center, eliminating a southbound lane to allow for a turning lane.

``Harbour Island represents a huge financial, tax and voter base for the city,'' Belden wrote in a summary for Iorio. Other city neighborhoods are troubled with crumbling sewers, crime and stormwater; Harbour Island ``just comes with large revenues,'' he wrote.
The parties decided to meet again in a month.

Belden said the recent Franklin Street project has caused more problems. ``For instance, we were assured that the southbound lane in front of the convention center would be open at all times; yet there continues to be buses unloading and cars blocking the lane most of the time,'' he wrote.

Belden said residents also are worried about pedestrians crossing at Franklin Street and St. Pete Times Drive. He said city transportation official Steve Daignault has proposed putting a traffic signal there, ``which would really increase blockage.''
Daignault said he dropped the traffic light idea when the streets were reworked. ``The Marriott [hotel] and convention center would like to see the light, but Harbour Island people protested,'' he said.

Daignault said he does not know of a magic solution for the southern end of downtown.

``It's just going to behoove us to try and reduce vehicles. People could use public transportation or stay away during peak times,'' he said.

He predicted traffic will worsen when the Tampa Bay Lightning return to the ice after missing last season because of a labor dispute.

Daignault said the mayor has vowed to have a user- friendly city.

``We really want to turn a lot of the one-way streets into east-west two-way by 2006,'' he said. ``I think the solution is really going to be reaching a middle ground with Harbour Island folks.''


Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 259-7143.

This story can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBWEHS44CE.html



Go Back To The Story

Wow ! Another Lisa Gerrard fan ! :)

Someone needs to get sit down with our local Bay area planners and start making plans for our future highways, other wise there will be no land left to build on.

Someone needs to get sit down with our local Bay area planners and start making plans for our future highways, other wise there will be no land left to build on.

Here's an idea, let's build a huge tollway from Hernando county curving southeast and bypassing Plant City on the Hills/Polk line and then continue this road all the way down to Port Charlotte. That way we can just forget about solving problems in already developed areas, and everyone can live out in "God's" country on 5 acre lots and have a two hour commute each way to work! That would surely solve all our traffic dillemas, plus we'd also be subsidizing an unnecessary major cargo airport in Hardee County, and we'd increase the wealth of state congressmen and their friends who have land out in the boonies. It's fool proof.

Dale,
DCD in Washington DC. October 10th. That's the closest to us they will come. Information availble at http://lisagerrard.com/. I plan to be in attendance.

Here's an idea, let's build a huge tollway from Hernando county curving southeast and bypassing Plant City on the Hills/Polk line and then continue this road all the way down to Port Charlotte. That way we can just forget about solving problems in already developed areas, and everyone can live out in "God's" country on 5 acre lots and have a two hour commute each way to work! That would surely solve all our traffic dillemas, plus we'd also be subsidizing an unnecessary major cargo airport in Hardee County, and we'd increase the wealth of state congressmen and their friends who have land out in the boonies. It's fool proof.

By the way, what ever happened to that proposed highway from Hernando County east of Tampa down to Manatee county? I haven't heard anything in months.

Stop your whining and deal. . .

Harbour Island demands attention
Residents ask the mayor to do something about streetcar complaints and traffic blocking bridges to and from the island.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published August 12, 2005

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HARBOUR ISLAND - This downtown island community is home to some of Tampa's most well-known and influential residents.

Bucs vice presidents Bryan and Joel Glazer. Lightning players Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Richards. Attorney Fred Karl. Former Mayor Dick Greco. Restaurant owners Malio and Shirley Iavarone.

All are represented by neighborhood associations that are pushing city officials to pay more attention to their needs.

Association leaders and residents met with Mayor Pam Iorio on Aug. 1 to express their concerns about downtown traffic blocking the bridges leading on and off Harbour Island.

The group included Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden and attorney John Fitzgibbons, who spoke about traffic jams during events, transportation problems posed by the streetcar and scant use of the Riverwalk.

"We vote and pay significant taxes, and I believe it is long past the time for the city to pay some attention to those of us who reside here and are not tourists," wrote Fitzgibbons in a six-page letter to the mayor July 14.

Based on the meeting, Belden described the mayor as "very receptive." She said her staff would report back in 30 days on ways to address their problems.

A few days later, signs went up outside the Tampa Convention Center advising motorists not to drop off people along Franklin Street. Residents had complained cars, taxis and buses often stop there, impeding access to the bridge leading to their homes.

"They have many legitimate concerns," Iorio said. "We need to be sensitive to that whole transportation issue there."

While sympathetic, Iorio stressed that the sources of their complaints - the Convention Center, St. Pete Times Forum, Marriott Waterside Hotel and the streetcar - aren't going away.

But some steps might be taken to ease the traffic problems, she said.

In fact, the city already has responded.

Last year, the city halted plans to install a traffic light at the base of the Franklin Street bridge next to the Marriott after island residents said it would disrupt traffic flow.

Then this year, the city spent $90,000 replanting the medians on Knights Run Circle and Beneficial Drive with palm trees and bushes.

Harbour Island's neighborhood associations have become increasingly vocal in the past year since the developer turned the community over to residents. The Harbour Island Community Services Association is the master association and three service districts represent specific areas of the island.

The groups' biggest concern is the influx of traffic for events at the Convention Center and the Forum.

Belden recalled one night when it took him 30 minutes to get to the Publix at Bayshore Boulevard and Platt Street.

"There was no way an emergency vehicle could get on or off the island," he said. "Someone's going to get hurt."

The problems will only get worse once the proposed condominiums go up in the Channel District, he said. An exit from the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway also is opening on Meridian Avenue.

"It's going to have a tremendous impact. You've got to look at the existing infrastructure," Belden said. "One of the concerns that the longtime residents have is that they weren't involved in the process of what is being proposed and designed."

Harbour Island resident Joyce Schauer, who also attended the meeting with the mayor, said she'd like the city to work harder to promote the existing Riverwalk.

"One of our major complaints is: Why are you talking about spending more money on the Riverwalk when you're not optimizing the walk we've got?" she said.

Schauer, spokeswoman for the South Service District who lives in Seddon Cove, said few people use the Riverwalk behind the Marriott hotel to get to the Convention Center. Instead, they cross Franklin Street, causing traffic delays.

In addition, the construction of the streetcar, she said, reduced the number of lanes on Franklin Street in front of the Convention Center. A proposed extension to Whiting Street will make the problem even worse, she said.

The streetcar is particularly frustrating, she said, because Harbour Island developers contributed $4-million to support something that now causes problems for residents. The money was used to establish a trust fund for streetcar operations.

Schauer said the group that met with the mayor represents a "unified Harbour Island."

But not everyone shares the complaints made to the mayor, especially concerns about the streetcar extension.

Drew Roark sent an e-mail to his neighbors Aug. 5 defending the streetcar and saying he has never waited 30 minutes to get off the island.

"I am a traffic engineer by profession," he wrote. "I agree with the trolley, and I think it provides more of a benefit to (Harbour Island) than a disbenefit. We are lucky to have it. . . . The opinions presented to the city officials are not representative of all of us on the island."

Schauer maintains that Harbour Island's 4,000 residents make few requests from the city and pay a lot of money in property taxes.

Harbour Island residents paid more than $12-million in property taxes in 2004, according to information provided by the Tax Collector's Office. About $3.1-million of that went directly to the city.

"It's not an insignificant group of people," Schauer said. "The stark contrast is the demands of all these other neighborhoods for public assistance. We don't have code violations. We don't have crime. We don't have any issues for the city to handle."

Jim Wood, a former Tampa Port Authority chairman who lives in ParkCrest and attended the meeting with the mayor, said residents aren't asking the city to spend a lot of money on improvements.

Promoting the Riverwalk behind the Marriott and having on-duty police officers directing traffic during special events would make a big difference, he said.

"It's a matter of planning. Our problems would be solved with very little financial outlay from the city," he said. "Just make better decisions and listen to us."

Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 09:00:07]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/12/Citytimes/Harbour_Island_demand.shtml

^I just read that article in the paper... Oh man, these people need to STFU... If they don't like it, I have an idea... Sell thier place and MOVE.

Well, its starting. The Airport Interchange Project (http://www.mytbi.com/content/users/projectinfo.asp?projectID=72&RoadID=11) is going to commence on the 15. So I suggest that you don't travel the Courtney Campbell, or come in and out of the airport for the next, oh, 5 years.

Hey, they are doing a pretty good job keeping Malfunction Junction going and that made the list for top worst interstate sections, so hopefully FDOT can work a little magic . . . um, hopefully . . . um, maybe. . .well, we'll see . .

How come every time I hear about Harbour Island, the residents are complaining about the traffic, or some new problem that they don't like. If you can't stand to live in DT Tampa and accept some of the problems of big city life, then move on.

Malfunction Junction Gets A Counterpart
By MARK HOLAN mholan@tampatrib.com
Published: Aug 14, 2005

TAMPA - Think Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium in 2009 is far in the future?
You'll know which teams lined up and who won before a massive road project near Tampa International Airport is completed the following year.

The work begins Monday.

The $202 million construction project is designed to improve traffic flow at the confluence of State Road 60, Memorial Highway, the Veterans Expressway and Interstate 275.

During the first week or two, daytime motorists will see crews lining the roadways with orange construction signs, concrete barriers and heavy equipment, Florida Department of Transportation spokesman John McShaffrey said.

``Nothing that's going to have much impact on traffic,'' he said.

To minimize disruptions during the project, lane closings will be restricted to 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., McShaffrey said.

First up: Spruce Street near the airport, which is expected to be pinched to one lane by Tuesday night.

Some of the initial work will include paving temporary lanes to accommodate future traffic shifts.

Crews also are expected to start driving support pilings for elevated on- and off-ramps on the north side of the Courtney Campbell Parkway, across from the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, by the end of the month.

Working so close to the airport will be tricky, McShaffrey said.

Crews must coordinate when they extend tall construction cranes in the airport's landing and takeoff zones, and they must be careful about lighting work areas at night.

Up to 600 flights take off or land per day, typically between 5 a.m. and midnight, TIA spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said.

She said information kiosks that can print up-to-the- minute maps showing construction zones near the airport will be installed at baggage claim areas and car rental agencies by the end of the year.

``We're concerned as the project progresses because we know it is going to involve some road closures,'' Geoghagan said.

The construction contract was awarded to Flatiron-Tidewater Skanska, Joint Venture, which also is rebuilding the section of Interstate 10 over Escambia Bay near Pensacola that was washed out by Hurricane Ivan. At peak construction, the airport interchange project will employ about 100 workers.

Key improvements include the elimination of some traffic signals, a new frontage road to the Hyatt and permanent barriers to end lane changes between the roads.

More than 12 acres of wetlands, mangrove stands and open water habitat will be filled to make way for the improvements.

The $202 million cost includes about $9 million in incentives for the contractor to meet construction deadlines.

``We hope the contractor gets it because that means things will be done and opened,'' McShaffrey said.


Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

check out www.mytbi.com for info and maps of active and future interstate projects in Tampa Bay

Project may disturb her grave visits
A proposed three-tiered road at U.S. 19 and 118th Avenue N will aid traffic, but hinder a woman's trips to her parents' graves.
By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published August 21, 2005

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PINELLAS PARK - Francine Gillo loves to sit on the bench under an oak tree near her parents' graves and update them on her life.

"They really aren't there, but they are there," she said. "We like to go visit them and talk to them like they are there."

But in recent years, the visits have lost much of their peace.

With the repeated widenings of U.S. 19 N, the road has come closer and closer to the gravesite at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery, bringing with it blowing horns, catcalls and stolen flowers.

"Now, I don't enjoy nothing," Gillo said.

Things may get worse for Gillo. The state wants to make major changes to U.S. 19 and 118th Avenue N. As part of the proposed $190-million in improvements, there would be a three-tier roadway at that intersection and an elevated road from there to just east of the proposed Roosevelt connector.

Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation discussed the plan Thursday during a public hearing at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School in Pinellas Park attended by about 55 people. The project would require that the state obtain rights of way from businesses along 118th.

The state says the revamped road will improve safety and increase capacity. Currently, about 50,000 cars a day travel 118th. The state predicts that number will increase to 65,000 daily in 2025.

Some look forward to the project, including Richard Gasperin, who wrote this comment on a form provided by the DOT:

"I look forward to finished construction of the 118th overpass at 49th Street and the U.S. 19 overpass at 118th Avenue," Gasperin said.

Helen Wall also was pleased, writing, "Sounds good. We've been waiting for this. Maybe mass transit next."

Gasperin and Wall will have to wait awhile. The proposal is still in the study stages and the alternative plan is to do nothing. A final proposal will be ready later this year.

The project is not yet funded, but the state and Metropolitan Planning Organization are working on that.

As for Gillo, the improvements will put the graves of her parents just steps from the edge of the road.

"It'll make me not want to go out to my parents' graves," Gillo said. "That's sad."

Gillo and her brother, Joe, say they know their plight will not stop the project. A DOT official at the hearing told them the state will not pay to relocate the graves or build a high wall around the edge of the cemetery to provide privacy for those who wish to visit departed loved ones.

The project, called the 118th Avenue connector, includes several components.

It would be an elevated roadway that would begin at the intersection of 118th and U.S. 19 and it would run eastward to 34th Street N, just east of the planned Roosevelt connector, which is another project.

Also planned as part of the improvements would be access roads on both sides of the elevated road and intersection changes.

At U.S. 19, the proposal is to build a flyover ramp to route southbound traffic from U.S. 19 to the connector. That would require the relocation of the southbound U.S. 19 frontage road to make room for the flyover.

The flyover would pass over an overpass to be built in 2006 as part of a separate project.

The overpass will allow traffic on 118th to pass over vehicles on U.S. 19. When all the work is complete, there would be a three-tier roadway at that intersection.

Another overpass would be built to allow traffic on 118th to pass over traffic on 49th Street N. The express lanes on 118th would pass over cars on 43rd Street N.

[Last modified August 21, 2005, 00:50:20]
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/21/Neighborhoodtimes/Project_may_disturb_h.shtml

The US 19 expansion is bound to bring up problems as it gets closer to homes and residental neighborhoods.

has anyone that drives US19 notice the Traffic ITS LED signs going up on the highway north of the countryside overpass where US19 becomes 8 lanes.....anyway, i'm just wondering if anyone knows how many they will be putting up, one guy on site said 11 in north pinellas...anyone have actual stats? god i love the trafficpulse company...they have started such a nice 511 system and website, which now covers realtime traffic for the interstate system, but an article in the st. pete times stated the company and FDOT would start adding those solar and taffic sensor to mcmullen and US19 very soon.

http://www.vancetax.com/us19.gif

That sign is just south of Curlew Road... All I recall is that it will be in operation in May of next year and not before.

They did a ridiculous detour while putting it up -- made people go all the way down to McMullen Booth road to head south of curlew to Enterprise or some other points south. The faster way would be to detour traffic (and yes, even large vehicle traffic) onto Countryside Boulevard which intersects US 19 anyway and would allow traffic back onto the highway.

Anyone got current pictures of the construction work at the Drew Street flyover?

Its about time people realized the benefits of LED's.

City Set To Make Changes To Kennedy Boulevard
By MARY SHEDDEN mshedden@tampatrib.com
Published: Sep 23, 2005

TAMPA - After years of study, the city is buying land and designing and making changes for the 4.2-mile stretch of Kennedy Boulevard between Memorial Highway and downtown Tampa.

The 2006 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, triggers multiple Kennedy improvement projects. More than $4.7 million is set aside for work through 2008, according to Tampa's five-year capital improvement budget.

More than half the money targets increasing traffic capacity at the Dale Mabry Highway intersection. Plans include adding a third northbound through-lane on Dale Mabry south of Kennedy, and pedestrian-related improvements.

There are 30,000 to 45,000 vehicle trips daily along Kennedy between Memorial and downtown, according to city records. Most of the road, including the stretch between Dale Mabry and MacDill Avenue, was designed to handle about 29,000 trips.

The capital improvement budget also earmarks several Kennedy improvements between 2008 and 2010, including a $3 million expansion of the MacDill intersection. This week, the Tampa City Council approved a $90,000 land purchase to help create left-turn lanes on MacDill.

Florida's Department of Transportation is dedicating $1.8 million to resurface 1.6 miles of Kennedy between Woodlynne and Brevard avenues in fall 2006, DOT spokeswoman Kris Carson said. Kennedy is a state road maintained by the city and DOT.

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB206JQYDE.html

Drew St. overpass construction as of today...sorry about the quality of the pics, hard to take while driving in a construction zone on US19...

approaching drew
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_011.JPG

drew street overpass begins
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_012.JPG

...and side view under overpass
http://www.vancetax.com/IMAGE_013.JPG

that's better than nothing, J, thanks... I'm just surprised they have such a large portion of the road elevated... They aren't planning a retention pond UNDER the overpass, are they?

If things are a pain in the ass right now, I can't wait to see how people react when Gulf to Bay's flyover and frontage roads are re-built at the end of the decade... THAT will dwarf the annoyances that are currently in place.

actually yes, because of right-of-way issues on that project, the right lane actually goes over the frontage roads and also has retention ponds under the drew overpass....renderings show one under the overpass

Should have elevated the whole thing and added capacity.

It will definitely help elevate some of the US 19 traffic flow problems.

Damn straight Smiley. They definitely should have clued in and double decked the road and just got it over with. Especially if they double decked it with a toll road. There would have been tons of public money to do the low work, and tolls would pay for the extra capacity above.

But hey, that makes sense and is cost effective... So you know that was the first idea crossed off the list. I'm sure some bullshit excuse about aestetics was used, as if the billboard clogged deathtrap we have today is somehow attractive.

Hey, this is Pinellas county . . .

And if you think Tampa is any better - look at the crosstown and the veterans and how 30 people can hold up the entire 1,000,000 in the county

I'm still pissed that Susan Latvala (pinellas County Commish) suggested Pinellas is too built out for Mass Transit... I mean, HELLO?!

But really, I had the idea of double-decking 19 back in the late 1990's. When Dateline NBC Chronicled 19 as the most accident prone stretch of highway in the country, i couldn't contain my rage when a local commissioner pointed out that the county has 63 different intersections ranked as worse than certain intersections that make 19 the worst road in the country (19/Sunset point was the intersection in quesiton).

Is it a competition for incompetance here? "Oh, they think 19 and Sunset is the worst? PHEW! Is that all? We got 63 others we think are worse but if you think 19 and SUnset is the worst out of what we got (albeit worst in the country) than bless you!"

Industrial-strength makeover?
Tampa wants to rezone Adamo Drive linking downtown and Brandon to allow a live-work mix. But landowners are balking.
By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 30, 2005

TAMPA - As far as gateways go, the west end of Adamo Drive marking the entry into Ybor City has about as much charm as a chain-link fence.

A steel fabricating plant, a construction company and other heavy industry dominate the terrain.

Soon, though, the area may be home to artists and others longing for an urban lifestyle.

In anticipation, city officials added the section of Adamo Drive between 15th and 26th streets to the Ybor City Historic District two years ago.

Now, the city wants to rezone the western edge of the heavily traveled corridor linking downtown and Brandon from an industrial classification to a mixed-use category that will allow residential and commercial development.

The intent is to avoid a "patchwork quilt of uses" as different landowners seek to redevelop their property, said Vince Pardo, manager of the Ybor City Development Corp.

Some property owners say the proposed zoning doesn't allow for dense enough development.

"Virtually all of the landowners said they don't want it," said Fran Williams, chairman of Kimmins Corp., which has a construction facility on Adamo Drive.

Kimmins wants to move to a nearby parcel and redevelop its current site. At one point, Kimmins had plans for two hotels. Now the company is considering residential and commercial buildings.

A major issue for Kimmins is the 45-foot height restriction imposed by the Barrio Latino, which monitors design in the Ybor City Historic District. The proposed change would make the zoning consistent with the Barrio's guidelines.

As a compromise, city officials have offered to allow 60 feet in the Adamo corridor.

"I'm giving them that," city zoning manager Gloria Moreda said. "It's not that much difference, 15 feet."

The zoning change would provide additional development options while still respecting the small-scale character of Ybor, City Council member Linda Saul-Sena said.

"To me the most important quality of the Adamo corridor is its proximity to our national landmark district," she said.

But Williams, president of the Adamo Corridor Neighborhood Association, said 60 feet isn't enough. Residential towers need to be tall enough to compete with the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, which runs over sections of Adamo, he said.

It's "nonsense," he said, to consider the buildings on Adamo Drive elements of the historic district, the core of which is several blocks away on Seventh Avenue.

Williams, who opposed including his property in the historic district in the first place, said a more suitable zoning would allow taller buildings on the district's fringes and lower ones close to the center. He also wants the city to reconsider the district's guidelines concerning density.

"They told us they were going to modify the guidelines to entice us to accept the designation," he said. "If they won't change the guidelines, I need to petition to get out of the district."

Bringing up the guidelines during the rezoning discussion is "muddying the issue," Pardo said. Property in the Adamo corridor must adhere to the Barrio Latino guidelines regardless of the zoning because the property is in the historic district.

Moreda said the change is needed to give industrial landowners more flexibility in developing their property. Developers currently have to go to the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission for a land-use change before they can go to the council for rezoning - a process that can be lengthy.

The rest of the expanded district was rezoned last year, but property owners in the Adamo corridor wanted to wait until after city consultants completed the Ybor City Vision Plan in April.

The vision plan says the Adamo corridor "offers an opportunity for denser and higher buildings than could be built elsewhere in the district," but redevelopment should be "coordinated with the rest of the development activity in Ybor City."

The plan didn't address zoning intensities with the detail that some property owners had hoped, Moreda said.

The recommended zoning change is scheduled to go to the Planning Commission for public hearings by the end of the year and to the City Council in January.

http://www.stpetetimes.com/2005/09/30/Citytimes/Industrial_strength_m.shtml

Oh please, please, please let this happen.


Driving to Ybor from Brandon on Adamo drive is like going though East Berlin.

I've never been to East Berlin, but I can only pray that it's not as depressing as Adamo.

I am continually surprised by how many strip clubs have popped up on that stretch. I guess business must be good, as they seem to be thriving amidst all the construction companies and industrial plants.

I'd be happy to just see improvements on the strip up to 22nd Street. Baby steps.

Tampa has the highest offering of stripclubs and porno shops to her citizens per capita after Los Angeles.

We have more 'entertainment venues' for every 1,000 people than the rest of America.


Tampa Pride!

I've never been to East Berlin, but I can only pray that it's not as depressing as Adamo.

no, it wouldn't be. East Berlin has that charming communist kitsch.

Just looking at the map of the first phase of the Florida High Speed Rail project. It would be a hit just in the Tampa Bay area alone -- perhaps even without a local rail system. Although, tying it in with a local rail system would really set it off.

http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/images/2c_routes.gif

BTW, I really think PSTA and HARTline should consolidate into one regional transit authority. It just might be more effective, particularly with developing a rail network.

Tampa has the highest offering of stripclubs and porno shops to her citizens per capita after Los Angeles

What's depressing about that - if they were organized into a nice combat zone - it would be swell (no pun intended)

Saul-Sena's obsession with shortness is strating to annoy me. Sure, on 5th-Palm Ave tehre shuld eb a limit - but after that, who the hell cares - especially toward the water. . .what are you going to block the view from a balcony on 7th? People live in condos and stay in hotels - you need them

The French quarter has towers right outside it (ok, so they are empty now, but they were well used and will be again)

no, it wouldn't be. East Berlin has that charming communist kitsch.

When were you in East Berlin last? I spent a week there last summer and have to say that I was impressed. There were a few old, weird buildings like the old Communist Party HQ that was pending demolition, and the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), but the old East Berlin has all the character. The West was just suburbs and parks before the Wall, and remains so today. The only truly important building on the Western half was the Reichstag. East Berlin has the museums, the Dom, Zoo, Kurfuerstendamm, and various old, tree-lined neighborhood (in addition to some buildings with Soviet bullet holes).

I'm sure it was much more depressing in the heyday of the DDR, but East Berlin today is pretty sweet. Much better than Brussels, anyhow.

Sorry, I was just joking.


Berlin does fascinate me excessively.

When were you in East Berlin last? I spent a week there last summer and have to say that I was impressed. There were a few old, weird buildings like the old Communist Party HQ that was pending demolition, and the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), but the old East Berlin has all the character. The West was just suburbs and parks before the Wall, and remains so today. The only truly important building on the Western half was the Reichstag. East Berlin has the museums, the Dom, Zoo, Kurfuerstendamm, and various old, tree-lined neighborhood (in addition to some buildings with Soviet bullet holes).

I'm sure it was much more depressing in the heyday of the DDR, but East Berlin today is pretty sweet. Much better than Brussels, anyhow.


...actually, the Zoo and Kurfürstendamm are in former West-Berlin.....
In my opinion, both parts have great districts.....

Just looking at the map of the first phase of the Florida High Speed Rail project. It would be a hit just in the Tampa Bay area alone -- perhaps even without a local rail system. Although, tying it in with a local rail system would really set it off.

http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/images/2c_routes.gif

BTW, I really think PSTA and HARTline should consolidate into one regional transit authority. It just might be more effective, particularly with developing a rail network.

Is this thing still going to happen? First it was dead last Nov., then it was alive now I haven't heard anything for months.

Is this thing still going to happen? First it was dead last Nov., then it was alive now I haven't heard anything for months.

It isn't clear. The governor hasn't been clear on killign the project or movign it forward now that it's not a consitutional mandate.

Good luck with consolidating anything between Pinellas and Hillsborough. IF Pinellas is so petty as to want to change the "Tampa Bay" Devil Rays to St. PEte "Devil Rays", nothing will happen - and, by the way, maybe they shouldfigure out that people don't cross the bridges for the games because people don't like their attitude- St. PEte has been annoying about the team from the start - alienating about half the potential an base.

^You got that right.

Who wants to spend their money dealing with arrogance?

Well, under that short logic (arrogance and spending money), I can say that Tampa is fine with it when it happens on their side of the bay... I mean, the Glazer family? Come on now.... Most arrogant and shrewd pricks out there. The entire difference is the fact one team wins and the other doesn't.

^The Glazaers are demanding that the Bucs be renamed the 'Tampa' Bucs? That's news to me.