More on the Gandy Extension

By Rich Shopes, Times Correspondent
In Print: Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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TAMPA — The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority hasn't committed to a bridge linking the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway to the Gandy Bridge, but that isn't stopping its opponents.

The project, they say, would divide South Tampa and destroy businesses on Gandy Boulevard.

"To me, there is nothing good from having a business under a bridge," said Mark Rubio, a South Tampa resident and commercial property owner. "Businesses just don't grow under bridges."

The authority earlier this month approved a study required to build the two-lane bridge but says it hasn't decided whether to move forward on the $130 million project to connect St. Petersburg to downtown Tampa, Brandon and Interstate 75.

Currently, drivers exiting the bridge have to drive about 2 miles east on Gandy Boulevard to reach the expressway's entrance at S Dale Mabry Highway. Business owners say a bridge to bypass Gandy Boulevard would mean losing thousands of drive-by customers and could separate them from customers north and south of Gandy. Others say it would destroy neighborhoods by creating a noisy barrier.

In a concession to residents and business owners who spoke against the plan, the authority's board called for a study to gauge attitudes toward the proposal.

Joe Waggoner, the expressway's executive director, said he will report back to the board in September about the scope and nature of that study.

If the authority moves forward, it will also need to complete a traffic and economic analysis to show lenders that the project would succeed.

Meanwhile, opponents say they've turned in 1,500 signatures of people against the plan and that they're trying to set up a meeting this week or next to decide on a strategy. Residents and business owners have been fighting the idea since it was introduced in 2008.

Al Steenson, president of the Gandy/Sun Bay South Civic Association, argues the authority should respect community concerns and that the agency's studies three years ago don't reflect current traffic levels or economic conditions.

The project would further hurt businesses by cutting drive-by traffic, he added.

"You put a 30-foot high elevated road down Gandy Boulevard and you will destroy this neighborhood," Steenson said.

"Most of the business here will go under," said Mikael Eskildsen, owner of Scan Design, a furniture store on Gandy Boulevard. "Everybody here has drive-by business: gas stations, liquor stores and banks. People stop here and do their shopping. But with this bridge, there won't be any off ramps. Forget it. They're going to be gone."

The authority estimates that traffic on Gandy will swell to about 48,100 cars a day by 2015, up from about 45,000 now. If the bridge is built, traffic on Gandy will drop to about 36,200 cars. Some 19,000 vehicles will take the new bridge, including drivers who otherwise would have used the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Tolls are estimated at 25 cents to 50 cents and would be collected electronically through Sunpass or the expressway's high-speed camera system.

[Last modified: Aug 22, 2011 11:50 PM]

Gandy Elevated- A Concern Again

We have learned from Sandra Murman, our county commissioner, that the Gandy elevated project has been put on the agenda for the next Metropolitan Planning Org. meeting. The demon has reared its ugly head again.
Ms. Murman has planned to meet with local residents at the Platt library on August 5 to discuss topics of interest. Our association president, Dennis Kralick, has agreed to work closely with the Bayside West neighborhood association president Jerry Frankhouser to spread the word of our opposition to this project. It is so nice to once again have a board president interested in community affairs. Dennis will share our concerns with Ms. Murman. If you are in the neighborhood, stop in and speak with her too.
The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) once agreed to honor the wishes of the local businesses and residents. We made our objections to the Gandy overpass loud and clear and THEA took the project temporarily off the burner.

On Monday, August 8 at 1:30 pm, the Board of Directors of the Expressway Authority will meet to discuss the Gandy State Environmental Impact Report (SEIR). The Board meeting will be held at 1104 East Twiggs Street, First Floor, Tampa, FL 33602. During this meeting the study process, community involvement objectives and outcomes, and the study’s suggested preferred alternative will be presented to the Board. The Board will be asked to accept the SEIR document. Board acceptance of the study does not mean that the Board is adopting the project or deciding to move forward with implementation.

In the past we have had just a few representatives from Regency Cove. If you plan to attend, please note that you may park in the fenced Authority lot or under the Selmon Expressway. There will be signs designating the parking area. Public input is limited to three minutes per person. Please prepare your remarks accordingly.

If you cannot attend, please write your objections to the Gandy overpass in an email. You can send it to the president, in care of the Office. For all who are interested in the value of your property, we need to voice our opposition to this ghastly project.

Transit Authority exaggerates support

A short video appeared on Channel 10 News the other day about South Tampa's opposition to the Gandy Overpass project. I have newspaper clippings as far back as 2002 that show Ellen Nimon and many other residents' efforts to defeat the Transit Authority's plan to build the overpass at our front door. For almost a decade, we have fought to maintain our property values here in the park.

By our not taking an official stand against the project, the Transit Authority perceived it, and loudly advertised that we were in support of it.

A resident, John Rechsteiner nailed it on the head when he was interviewed and said that this project does NOT have the support of this community. Right on, John!

See for yourself. There is a video in the upper right corner of the link below.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=124774&catid=8

The Gandy Debate Continues

Yet another workshop put on by the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority occurred tonight. The public hearing took place at The New Beginnings Christian Church, on Manhattan Ave. I salute the handful of Regency Cove residents present.



As usual , the two sides of the controversy were divided, the locals in the seats facing the speakers at the microphones, and the other side, standing in the back.

Councilman Dingfelder, currently running for a County Commisioner seat, listens attentively to residents on the stage?

OOps no, a little preoccupied.

These are the folks who aren't particularly listening, or even applauding as the neighborhood residents express their concerns for their businesses and livelihoods, for their homes, their families, and the futures of their children living under a 35 foot concrete bunker.


Photos below depict the Ranch House Grill restaurant without and then with the concrete roadway. Attractive? I think not.

Here is SweetBay on Gandy with and without a concrete choker. Hmmm... what do YOU think is more attractive?

They never presented any computer generations of the front of Regency Cove. We probably don't want to see what that's all about. There are negotiations for a path behind the bait stores for a safe exit, with a light. Fooey, I'll believe it when I see it. Will I live that long?

The audience was definitely stacked with the locals who are against this atrocity defiling our neighborhood. See their vision below. If you can remember what they presented years ago, the photos are becoming more chilling, more descriptive of what Life will be like under a concrete embankment.

Jerry Frankhouser, the president of Bayside West Neighborhood Association, has made it clear to the Authority that we do NOT want the overhead or the round-about plans at West Shore Blvd or Manhattan, set forth by the Expressway Authority. The Authority, he claims, does not even have a current traffic count to show that it is necessary, nor an Economic Study as to what their plan will do to the neighborhood businesses. Most of the business are against this plan and many business owner spoke tonight opposing this plan. Many local residents also took took the microphone.


Regency Cove, along with the neighborhood association has been battling this project since its inception years ago. Past-President Ellen Nimon continues to serve as a champion against the cause, the Authority. When will it ever end?

Gandy Overpass in the News

The dreaded Gandy Overpass project again appeared in the local newspaper. The thirty-foot wide overpass will span the length of the Gandy Bridge and east on Gandy Blvd towards the Crosstown Expressway for the purpose of St Pete evacuation.

There will be an open meeting for the community to voice their concerns. The meeting will take place on July 29, 2008, between 7-9 pm, at the Jan Platt Library on Manhattan Ave.

All residents of Regency Cove should be present to show solidarity against the construction of this monstrous barrier outside our main entrance. We will print the address where snowbirds can write to express their concerns as well.

We must leave a clear message to FDOT and any politician who supports this project that we are against it!