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Forum Reveals Future Of U.S. 301

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By JOHN CEBALLOS

jceballos@tampatrib.com

Published: January 21, 2009

RIVERVIEW - Area residents recently had their first chance to see plans for the U.S. 301 widening project up close since construction began in November.

Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation and the project's contractor, Prince Contracting, hosted an open house Jan. 13 at the Rice Creek RV Resort, located off a leg of U.S. 301 that will be affected by the road widening.

"We usually try to do an open house near the start of the construction phase for our projects," said Marian Scorza, public information officer for the DOT.

Crews working on the $110 million project will widen the 6-mile segment of U.S. 301 between Gibsonton Drive and County Road 672 from a two-lane rural road to a 6-lane divided highway with a raised median.

The work also will include installing a 5-foot sidewalk on the west side of the road, a 12-foot, multi-use path on the east side and new street lighting on both sides.

The state is contributing $47 million to the project, which includes $32.9 million from a grant awarded to the county in October 2007.

Developers will contribute $42 million, and the county will supply about $20 million.

More than 100 area residents attended the two-hour open house.

"People seem to be most interested in the paths and the sidewalks and, certainly, the median openings," Scorza said. "A lot of people are just really curious about where they're going to walk their dogs."

Many people in attendance expressed concerns about more specific issues. Bill Hunter, a Rice Creek resident, was concerned about a possible lack of traffic lights at certain key intersections.

"The designer should have his license taken away and be horsewhipped," Hunter said. "I realize traffic lights cost a lot of money, but whenever you leave drivers to their own devices with a lot of these U-turns they're going to be forced to make, you're asking for trouble."

John Monte, who lives in the nearby Hacienda Heights mobile home community, attended the open house with his wife, Janet. He wishes country planners had involved Riverview residents earlier.

"I really feel like we should've been contacted during the design stage," Monte said. "It's nice that they're here now, but with the project started, it feels more like, 'this is what you're getting.'"

The road-widening is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in summer 2012.

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555.

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