I moved to this area from Bradenton in 1979. U.S. 301 was a two-lane road.
U.S. 301 is still a two-lane road.
The difference now is that instead of cattle and tomatoes it’s flanked by entrances to housing developments.
Big housing developments.
Oh – they’re nice communities. In fact, I live in one of them. And they’re in a great area, near the bay, and native Florida, yet close to cities and amusement parks and all kinds of entertainment options, not to mention being only a short drive from the beach.
So much for the chamber of commerce “brochure.”
Let’s face it, traffic in South Shore is a nightmare and getting worse every day. We’ve all been griping – hey, giving you a place to send your questions and concerns about traffic, roads and development is the purpose of this column.
About 10 years ago, there was an organization in the area called SHAPE. It stood for South Hillsborough Action Plan for Emergencies.
That organization is defunct now, but recently I had cause to remember it.
One of the first photographs I took for SHAPE was when, in conjunction with Concerned Citizens of Gibsonton Area Inc., members had a sign erected on the corner of Gibsonton Drive and U.S. 41 that read “In case of a Category 5 hurricane, this spot would be 16 feet under water.”
Guess what folks? The sign may be down and thousands of homes have been built west of that very spot since the day I took that photograph, but the facts haven’t changed.
The other day, as it took me three hours to get from my office in Ruskin’s Sun Point Shopping Center to my home in Summerfield Crossings in Riverview, I thought about that sign for the first time in years.
I thought about it as I sat behind a line of cars that was miles long.
I thought about it when I pulled off the road and let my ‘95 Saturn cool down enough to get back in the line.
And I thought about it when a neighbor called me from Apollo Beach and offered to pick up my granddaughter because she was already at the after-school camp both our girls attend.
“Do you want me to pick her up for you?” she asked. “I’ve never seen traffic like this.  There’s just no getting in and out of here.”
The crush of cars on the roads that day was caused by the fire that jumped from U.S. 41 and spread eastward, finally crossing Interstate 75, causing it to be shut down.
After about an hour of sitting in the line of cars stuck on U.S. 301, I made it to the turn-off for County Road 672 – headed east- hoping for better luck on Balm-Riverview Road.
But just as the Saturn started feeling some wind under the hood, we spotted it: another long line on both sides of 672.
Even Balm-Riverview was bumper-to-bumper.
This brought my thoughts back to all the right-of-ways the developers have had to donate for roads through the new developments along U.S. 301. Those north-south spaces are there, but no roads have been built.
People can drive from South Fork’s main entrance road, Ambleside Drive, onto a dirt-and-gravel road into the south end of Summerfield Crossings; cross Big Bend Road and take Summerfield Boulevard clear to the north end of the development to a wide field, across which you can see the Panther Trace development. The field is a donated right-of-way for a road. Hillsborough County’s 911 Streets and Addresses office even has the road on their maps – although the county’s long range transportation map does not show it – as an extension of Summerfield Boulevard.
Farther north is the Martinez tract, which extends nearly to Rhodine Road.
I want to know why these roads haven’t been built. And I want to know why there are so many people moving in ahead of the infrastructure to support them.
Oh, know the history behind it. South Shore’s housing densities were approved 25-to-30 years ago.  I’m sure the new people who have moved here expecting paradise weren’t told any of this.
Now will somebody please tell me where the evacuation routes are for a population that has quadrupled since the existing roads were built, and how we are supposed to access them in case of a real emergency?

Send your questions and concerns to me at 3036 College Ave., Ruskin, FL 33570 or e-mail them to with “Road Raves” in the subject line.
Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Sun and the South Shore News, affiliates of The Tampa Tribune.