Construction is underway to widen Bruce B. Downs Boulevard from four lanes to eight lanes, from Pebble Creek Boulevard to County Line Road.
It is the last of four phases of a multi-year project to ease traffic congestion on one of the county’s busiest thoroughfares.
The $24.7 million project will add travel lanes, sidewalks and bicycle lanes, along about 1.5 miles of roadway. Completion on this segment is expected in late 2018.
Area residents are hopeful that more lanes will ease traffic congestion along a corridor popping with new retail, apartments and houses.
But, concerns remain among residents who drive the packed roadway daily for shopping errands, trips to Wharton High School and commutes to jobs.
On Oct. 18, about 20 residents attended a pre-construction meeting at Wharton High to get a look at the new road design, and pose questions to Hillsborough County planners and traffic engineers.
Most expressed concerns about traffic lights, and how motorists and pedestrians will navigate a widened road with four lanes running in each direction.
Some had a historical view of a road that, for years, was mostly empty of shops and residences.
“I remember when it was the road to nowhere,” said Carlotta Bernard, who lives in the Meadow Pointe neighborhood, off Bruce B. Downs.
Now, she said her neighborhood is in the midst of development all around, from The Shops at Wiregrass in Pasco County to the University of South Florida area in Hillsborough County.
“It’s a danger zone, and a stop-and-go road,” she said.
At one intersection, parents drop off and pick up students. At another, a student parking lot sees a lot of in-and-out traffic.
“I feel bad for kids who are new drivers having to fight traffic,” Bernard said.
Cheryl Puleo also worries about school traffic. She is a bus driver delivering and picking up students at Wharton High.
There is a light at the student parking lot, but not at the drop-off site for parents.
“It really needs a light,” she said.
Some residents worry about the timing of traffic signals.
Currently the wait times last so long, it can be quicker for motorists trying to turn left, to instead make a right turn, head to another traffic signal and do a U-turn.
Traffic in and out of a Walmart Superstore at Regents Park Drive also leads to vehicles backing up to the signal at Pebble Creek.
One couple described at least one signal on Bruce B. Downs as the “5-minute” light, though a county traffic engineer said the longest wait time at a signal would be about 3.5 minutes.
Still, county officials say the road widening should improve traffic flow.
In addition to more traffic lanes, the roadway will have new sidewalks, multi-use paths, improved drainage, a 28-foot landscaped median, and upgrades to traffic signals.
In 2012, the road segment from Pebble Creek to County Line had about 44,000 cars daily, data showed. By 2032, estimates are for more than 82,000 daily vehicle trips.
The road widening is a top transportation priority for Hillsborough County.
In recent years, Bruce B. Downs from Palm Springs Boulevard to Pebble Creek was widened to eight lanes. Currently, work is underway on a segment from Bearss Avenue to Palm Springs Boulevard, with completion expected in late 2017.
Published November 2, 2016
