Gandy- A Better Boulevard

[HARTride 2012]

If the whole double-decker plan goes into motion, maybe that entire interchange will receive a major overhaul.

[HARTride 2012]

...at the THCEA website.

http://www.tampa-xway.com/GandyProject.html

[HARTride 2012]

Gandy Not Seeing The Light

Carol Buckingham of Port Tampa recently asked why the light cycles are short for streets that cross Gandy Boulevard, which is under construction.

"It takes forever for us to get across Gandy. Someone needs to fix the timing on those lights," she said.

I can sympathize. The DOT says the short light cycles will stay that way for about a year.

Toward the end of the project, the department will install traffic sensing devices and new timers. All of the traffic management equipment will then be turned over to the city.

"Because of the construction we want to keep traffic moving on Gandy," DOT spokeswoman Marian Scorza said.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/dec...es/news-metro/

[HARTride 2012]

Yeah, but I have to wait three to four lighting cycles just to get across Gandy via Manhattan and WestShore. At least on WestShore, the northbound left turn lane was extended temporally to alleviate some congestion. But overall, this does not help the other roads.

[I-275westcoastfl]

That is normal for around here, I can name numerous large roads with poorly timed lights.

[HARTride 2012]

I mean, yeah that is normal for such intersections. The timing should be short for a two lane road that intersects, let's say a six lane road. Like Stall Rd & Dale Mabry. Of course the light cycle for Stall will be short cause it is a two lane, largely residential road.

I just don't like waiting four light cycles to get through an intersection.

[HARTride 2012]

I think another allignment change was supposed to happen this morning between the Selmon and Lois. I think eastbound traffic moves to its permanent allignment.

[smiley]

just put the crosstown over it an be done . . .

[HARTride 2012]

I wish it were that simple...

[Jasonhouse]

^It will be soon enough. The people who live down there, who think that they will stop Gandy from being double decked are deluded and clueless.

[HARTride 2012]

Yep. They gotta stop whining for gosh sake!

[HARTride 2012]

Next Gandy Project Advisory Group Meeting will be January 20, 2009 at 6:30 pm at Monroe Middle School

From the THCEA website

[HARTride 2012]

Supposedly, there was another study board (for the elevated plan) meeting last night. I wonder how that went?

[DShenise]

Have you ever seen a group of old people angry because Picadilly/Morrison's ran out of soft serve ice cream? That's probably it, lots of bitching followed by so much foot shuffling out the door, you'd think the place would explode because of the static electricity.

[HARTride 2012]

Uh.........

[Jasonhouse]

^I guess you haven't... lol, lucky you!

[HARTride 2012]

What? I didn't go to that meeting. Maybe that's what you'll mean, the meeting was a disaster?

[Jasonhouse]

I was giving props to both the cafeteria joke and the comment about old people attending a civic meeting, which they think means something to anyone but them.


btw, if one MUST eat at a cafeteria/buffet chain, only Luby's and Sweet Tomatoes offer any hope of not throwing up shortly after eating... One caveat though... CiCi's Pizza is worth the price of admission not to eat, but for sheer entertainment value.

[HARTride 2012]

Gandy Crosstown Extension Plan Gets Roundabout Twist

By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2009

TAMPA - The Gandy extension idea isn't dead in the water, after all.

After being decried by South Tampa business owners and residents for 20 years, a proposal to extend the Selmon Crosstown Expressway two miles to the Gandy Bridge is gaining momentum.

"I think people are willing to listen. They want to know more," said Al Steenson, president of the Gandy/Sunbay South Civic Association.

Unlike past proposals, the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority's plan comes with a twist:

In addition to the elevated road, the authority proposes two roundabouts to replace traffic lights – at Manhattan Avenue and West Shore Boulevard – to slow traffic and keep it flowing, and to reshape Gandy into a Main Street shopping district.

It would merge two smaller entrances at Culbreath Key and Regency Cove, housing developments on the western end of Gandy Boulevard, into one large entrance, and install a traffic signal at the new entrance to allow drivers to turn left onto Gandy.

Residents currently must turn right then make a U-turn.

"That right there is amazing," said Dave Gutcher, president-elect of the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce. "Combing those into a single entrance and exit with a light makes so much sense in the world."

The authority, which revealed its proposal to a citizens advisory group Tuesday night, said the plan is tentative and months from being approved. The roundabouts, along with other portions of the plan, could be stricken if residents so choose.

The authority said its aim is to relieve congestion on Gandy Boulevard by diverting traffic destined for downtown or Pinellas County onto the expressway extension.

The extension would carry two lanes, one in each direction, with wide shoulders, and run from Dale Mabry Highway to just west of Bridge Street.

The authority said it hopes to capture 30 percent to 40 percent of Gandy traffic with the extension. Between 42,000 to 48,500 cars use Gandy daily, according to traffic counts two years ago, the most recent analysis.

The authority would collect tolls of 25 cents to 50 cents to fund the project. If the plan doesn't gain enough community support at its public meetings, the authority has said it will walk away.

"We want people to be honest with us, to tell us what they like and don't like, what concerns them about the project," authority spokeswoman Sue Chrzan said.

Residents and business owners have complained for years about traffic on Gandy but have roundly rejected proposals to deal with that traffic by building an elevated road down Gandy.

Last year, the Department of Transportation began work on an alternative. It's reconstructing Gandy with a landscaped median, turn lanes and through lanes. The project is expected to be completed in the fall.

Though the expressway authority's idea has some support, not everyone is enthused.

"It's going to split the neighborhood," said Jerry Frankhouser, president of the Bayside West Neighborhood Association. "As fancy as it is, it's still going to be in the middle of the road."

Ellen Nimon, a resident of Regency Cove said, "I don't like the roundabouts at all. I hate that one in Clearwater. I don't know what they're going to do about those trucks coming from the port."

But Chrzan said the authority won enough support from citizens studying the idea to advance to the next step, to produce conceptual drawings and perform detailed analysis, including traffic counts. The project's cost and building time are still undetermined.

The next meeting of the citizens-based Project Advisory Group is mid-March.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2...bout-twi/news/

[TampaMike]

oh great, roundabouts. I can see disaster already written all over this. Espicially with the range of age in the area.

Mary: "Bob, aren't you suppose to turn a right here?"

Bob: "Mary, its a left, I think I know how to drive since I'm the one driving!"