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Volume 23 Issue 1
Inside:
Our Editor’s 2014 Local Dining Favorites!
January 1, 2015
See Neighborhood Magazine!
Named The 2014 ‘Small Business Of The Year’ By The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWS MAGAZINE IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Easton Park • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • The Hammocks • West Meadows WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Bridgewater • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • The Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Watergrass • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg
More Widening On Tap For Bruce B. Downs & I-75 In 2015!
‘Segment A’ Construction Meeting To Be Held Jan. 12 By Matt Wiley
Although work continues on the widening of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. underneath I-75 (see below) that will complete BBD “Segments B & C,” work will begin within the next few weeks on the next segment of BBD widening. Although the official date of construction for “Segment A” (in red on map at right) —which will widen New Tampa’s main thoroughfare from four to eight lanes from Palm Springs Blvd. in Tampa Palms south to Bearss Ave. — has not yet been set, a pre-construction meeting has been scheduled for Monday, January 12, 6 p.m., at Tampa Palms Elementary (6100 Tampa Palms Blvd.) to inform the public about what to expect when the work begins. Hillsborough County community relations coordinator Andrea Roshaven says that the pre-construction meeting will feature maps and exhibits to help give local residents (and any other attendees) a good idea of what will happen when the 3.5-mile, $36-million Segment A construction project finally gets going. “This meeting will let them know the impacts of construction near their neighborhoods,” Roshaven explains. “It will detail the sequencing and when the project will start.” After a brief overview presentation, Hillsborough County staff will be on hand to answer any specific questions that residents may have about how construction will affect their respective neighborhoods. Roshaven says that an official date to start widening “Segment A” has not yet been set because the county has not yet issued the “Notice to Proceed” to Prince Contracting, which was awarded the project contract in early October. Roshaven says she expects Prince to be given the go-ahead sometime in January or early February.
“(Segment A) will be constructed in a similar sequence to the other segments,” Roshaven says, adding that the number of moving traffic lanes will remain the same during the Segment A construction because the new lanes are to be added in the rightof-way on either side of BBD. She says that access to the many businesses along BBD — especially south of Tampa Palms — also will be maintained throughout the project. “Construction will primarily take place during weekdays, but occasional weekend or night work may be necessary to cross driveways or side streets, to minimize traffic impacts,” Roshaven says. As part of the project, Prince also will be responsible for constructing sidewalks, widening the bridge over Cypress Creek (just south of Amberly Dr. in Tampa Palms), making improvements at the Tampa Palms Blvd. and Amberly Dr. intersections with BBD (including removing and replacing the existing traffic signals) and creating four retention ponds. Prince currently is in the process of wrapping up the widening of the one-mile stretch of BBD underneath I-75, between Doña Michelle Dr. in North Palms Village and Commerce Park Blvd. That section could not be widened until the project to replace the I-75 overpasses above BBD (part of the Florida Department of Transportation, or FDOT’s I-75 widening project between Fowler Ave. and S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel), was completed (see below and separate story on this page).
BBD/I-75 Aims For April
Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson John McShaffrey reports that the BBD lanes under I-75 are coming along, but that the project likely won’t be completely finished until late spring. See “BBD Widening” on page 14.
Also Inside This Issue!
Local News, Business & Education Updates
Neighborhood Magazine
Development Plan Approved For Land Across From Hunter’s Green, Tampa Premium Outlets Breaks Ground On S.R. 56, Cross Creek Blvd. Widening On Track & More!
A Review Of D’Alessio Italian Ristorante, Former Tampa Palms Residents Hit Web TV, Gary’s 2014 Dining Favorites & Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 3-36
Pages 37-60
© 2015 NTNN art by Nate Ciurla
I-75 Widening Project Way Ahead Of Schedule While it may seem like construction crews have been widening I-75 for an eternity through New Tampa and into Wesley Chapel, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) says the project is actually ahead of schedule by several months, despite crews still working underneath the Exit 270 (Bruce B. Downs {BBD} Blvd.) interchange. According to FDOT, Prince Contracting’s 11.4-mile, $95-million-project to widen I-75 from four to six and eight lanes between Fowler Ave. in Temple Terrace to just south of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel actually is nearly a year ahead of schedule. “We are in the final phases of construction on (I-75),” says FDOT spokesman John McShaffrey. “At some locations, traffic is already in its final configuration; other locations will be shifted into the final pattern in the next couple of months.” The widening, which began in October
2011, has contract time available through the spring of 2016 to finish widening the interstate and complete the necessary improvements at the Fowler Ave. (Exit 265), Fletcher Ave. (Exit 266) and BBD interchanges. McShaffrey reports that current projections show that the project could be wrapped up as soon as early summer of 2015. While the southbound I-75 lanes are in their final configuration just north of the BBD interchange, work continues between S.R. 56 and the apex with I-275, as well as on the northbound lanes north of the BBD interchange up to the apex with I-275 (see map). McShaffrey says that all lanes should be in their final configurations through New Tampa and Wesley Chapel by spring 2015.