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Bridges Cross Residents

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2007

Updated: 10/18/2007 11:34 pm

RIVERVIEW - The 'river of fire' is hot again, with leaders of community groups on the north and south banks scrambling to get information after two plans involving the Alafia became public a few weeks ago.

Both of the issues - proposed new roads and bridges and pending adoption of withdrawal restrictions for the river - are tied to the area's population boom.

At the top of the list of concerns for the Alafia River Ridge Civic Association in Riverview and Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton Area is a long-range transportation plan that shows two new bridges spanning the river.

The bridges only appear on a map intended to predict needs and preserve road corridors to accommodate growth over the next 40 years. Proponents of the plan, which is expected to go before county commissioners early next year, say the roads and bridges will be needed because south Hillsborough's population is projected to more than triple to about 500,000 by 2050.

But community leaders on both sides of the river say the proposed spans, though unfunded and decades away, would devastate their neighborhoods.

'Everybody's fired up,' said Bob Minthorn of Gibsonton, a member of Concerned Citizens and past appointee on the Alafia River Basin Board.

'It's ridiculous. ... This will do nothing for our community except destroy it.'

Ditto for Peter White, president of the Alafia River Ridge Civic Association. The association represents a longstanding pastoral neighborhood that straddles Valrie Lane, a 2-mile, two-lane road that ends at the river. One of the bridges proposed is a two-lane span that would link the neighborhood to busy Bloomingdale Avenue on the north side of the river.

Residents have been abuzz with news of the proposal, mostly worried that anticipated road improvements would split the neighborhood and change its character forever, White said.

'People are stopping us in the streets,' he said. 'It would be like having a Bloomingdale Avenue running down the middle of the community.'

White said the civic association will meet at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Riverview Civic Center, 11020 Park Drive, to discuss the proposed bridge and pending minimum flow levels for the Alafia.

He said members also are expected to consider joining United Citizens' Action Network, a recently formed countywide organization focused on growth management and government accountability.

'We're going to see what we can do,' White said.

In Gibsonton, the bridge Minthorn is most worried about is drawn on the map as a four-lane span connecting Riverview's 78th Street/Barcin Circle on the north side of the river to the intersection of Alafia Street and Anna Avenue, off Gibsonton Drive on the river's south bank.

'There's no way to four-lane Alafia Street and Anna Avenue without people losing their homes,' Minthorn said, noting that the modest homes in that neighborhood were built close to the pavement.

'That's just not fair, especially when there's nothing in it for the community and it's not needed, anyway. This thing is totally fueled by developers.'

He and Jeanie Johnson, Concerned Citizens treasurer, noted that the proposed road runs parallel to U.S. 41, targeted for widening on the long-range plan. The proposed new highway that includes the bridge would stretch from 78th Street south to Big Bend Road and create a corridor from Apollo Beach to Tampa via the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

'It's like building a second Dale Mabry two streets over,' Minthorn said, referring to a major thoroughfare in Tampa.

Johnson said part of the route likely would thread through Golden Aster Scrub, a county-owned preserve.

'They want us to tear down our homes and demolish our environmental lands so people in half-million-dollar homes can get to the football games faster,' she said.

Johnson said Concerned Citizens took no action at its meeting Oct. 11, but anticipates learning more about the plan from Ned Baier, Hillsborough's transportation planning manager, at the group's next meeting. That meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Gardenville Recreation Center, 6215 Symmes Road, Gibsonton.

County officials also will hold the first public meetings on the plan since final recommendations were released about a month ago.

Those meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the South Shore Regional Service Center, 410 30th St. SE, Ruskin, and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Riverview High School, 11311 Boyette Road.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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