Go Hillsborough is an initiative aimed at engaging the public to find solutions for deteriorating infrastructure and traffic-clogged roads.
The effort is a collaboration involving the Hillsborough County Commission, the mayors of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City, and the chairman of the board for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit system.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Organizers have been making the rounds to places across Hillsborough County for months, inviting the public to help pinpoint the problems and weigh in on potential solutions.
On April 30, they made a stop at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Lutz.
At this session, they invited members of the public to look at informational placards throughout the room, to watch a video on a continuous loop, to ask questions of people stationed throughout the room and to offer their input in writing.
At this session, the focus was on making choices.
The next series of workshops will focus on finding consensus.
The idea is to invite public participation in both identifying problems and suggesting solutions.
Both the slideshow and placards set up around the room made it clear that the county has no shortage of problems, when it comes to its transportation network.
For one thing, it’s a big job.
In Hillsborough County alone, for instance, there are more than 7,000 lane miles of road, as well as 254 bridges and 315 signalized intersections.
And, of that, “more than 30 percent of county roads are at or approaching poor condition,” according to information on display.
Lack of transit is another issue.
“As of today, 58 percent of county residents and 38 percent of our jobs are not served by transit,” a display says.
Paying for improvements won’t be cheap, either.
The county is facing $750 million in transportation backlogs.
So far, feedback has shown that different parts of the county have different priorities.
For instance, transit ranks as a top priority in West Tampa, while new roads ranks as a top priority in South County. In Northwest Hillsborough, new roads and wider roads are the top priority, while resurfacing ranks second.
There’s no easy solution for funding improvements, either.
Choices include user fees, such as gas taxes or tolls; charging developers a fair share; and a sales tax.
The next set of meetings will focus on attempting to build a community consensus on which problems to attack and how to pay for them.
In addition to four meetings that are scheduled around the county, there will be a telephone town hall on May 21 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call (877) 229-8493. The Pin number is 11031.
For more information, visit GoHillsborough.org.
Published May 6, 2015
