There’s a lesson to be gleaned from my experiences writing this column: An answer is not always the same thing as a solution, especially when we’re talking city streets.

My search for information about the intersection of MacDill Avenue and Azeele Street has led to some answers, but the physical solution is going to take a little more patience.

Maybe a lot more.

A project to improve the crossing – plagued by poor road surface conditions and turning approaches – has been held up for almost two years with no definite end in sight.

A phone call came through from the city last week. Thomas Catell, chief project designer, said plans for the MacDill/Azeele project are complete and ready to go. The intersection is slated to receive left-turn lanes (but no corresponding arrow traffic signals) in all four directions.

Of course, work cannot start until all the necessary surrounding land is obtained, and a few parcels are missing from the puzzle.

“We’re still trying to reach agreements with some property owners,” Catell said.

If that doesn’t happen, the city could be forced to condemn properties and file for acquisition through eminent domain, making this whole process drag on even longer. Then there’s the construction to struggle through.

So, we have answers – yes, the intersection will improve – but for solutions in hard asphalt that make daily driving easier we can only wait.

Also under construction

This month, Tampa City Council approved a $10 million dollar contract to widen Manhattan Avenue from Gandy Boulevard to Euclid Avenue. The project will expand Manhattan to accommodate four lanes of north-south traffic and will also include creation of a center turn lane.

Looking for another example of answers vs. solutions, or ideas vs. actions? Discussion about this project, in one form or another, has been batted around for more than a decade.

Patience, it seems, is a prerequisite of progress.

Groundbreaking on the Manhattan Avenue widening project is officially set for 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 24.

Faulty ignition timing

As far back as October 2004, folks were waiting and hoping for a traffic light outside the Home Depot at South Dale Mabry Highway and Ballast Point Boulevard. That’s when former South Tampa News editor Jen Howell wrote a column about it, thinking perhaps it would be a New Year’s reality in early ‘05.

The light physically appeared a year later, unlit. And we’re still waiting for the juice to flow.

Alas, once again it seems time is not on our side. As of this writing, the poles and lamps still sit dark, covered in plastic.

Now I’m hoping TECO can shed a little light on this dangerous site in 2006.

So is Kathy Good Jenkins of Oakford Park. She sent me an e-mail last week wondering “what will it take for TECO and DOT to get these lamps lit, before somebody dies at that very dangerous South Dale Mabry intersection?”

From what I’ve been told, it’s just a matter of having TECO and the Department of Transportation make final equipment inspections. After that, and about 72 hours of flashing test signals, the light can move into regular cycles.

I had hoped to see some movement around Halloween.

“Now Turkey Day has come and gone,” Jenkins wrote. “Sure, Christmas would be nice, but does even Santa have that much power? I’m thinking we should start lobbying the Easter Bunny, just in case.”

The way things are moving right now, I’m inclined to agree.