Answering your questions is a big part of this job. This week, I’ve gotten letters about several things readers may find interesting: a possible danger to bicycle riders on U.S. 301 south of Sun City Center; the need for a traffic light at the intersection of Big Bend Road and Summerfield Boulevard; and potholes and bumpy sections of pavement on Big Bend Road between U.S. 41 and U.S. 301.
Well folks, thanks to the Florida Department of Transportation and Hillsborough County Roads and Streets, I’ve got your answers.
Richard Dombrow of Sun City Center writes that earlier this year, 6- to 8-inch grooves were ground into the shoulder of U.S. 301 which has made it hard for his group of bicyclists to ride its regular route into Manatee County.
“We’re now forced to ride to the inside of the white line in the flow of traffic,” Richard said. “Every Thursday morning our group of 15 to 20 cyclists ride on this southern portion of (U.S.) 301. Many other cyclists from the area also ride on this portion of the highway. But we can no longer ride on the shoulder because of the grooves. In some areas the shoulder is not wide enough and riding across the grooves shakes your hands from the handlebars.”
Richard said he wrote to the county commission but received no answer.
The problem with that is Hillsborough County is not responsible for U.S. 301 – or U.S. 41 and State Road 674. They’re handled by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Kris Carson, spokeswoman for FDOT, checked out the installation of the grooves. As it turns out, they’re called “rumble strips.”
“We installed rumble strips as an audio warning device for drivers who may run off the road,” she said. “It’s for the safety of the drivers.”
But something can – and will be – done to help the cyclists, too. “Overgrowth has grown up and covered some of the shoulder, but we’ll get that cleared soon which will widen the area for the bicycles,” she said. “It won’t be a bicycle ‘lane’ but there will be more room.”
    Summerfield traffic light
I have good news for Deb Kosmela who writes about the accidents she has seen recently, including two school bus accidents, at the intersection of Big Bend Road and Summerfield Boulevard.
“Traffic is rarely doing the 25 mph that is posted when coming eastbound on Big Bend Road. This makes even a right-hand turn out of the development next to impossible. Forget about turning left, you have to wait an extended period, even in the evening, to do that,” Deb said.
The good news is that Hillsborough County spokesman Steve Valdez said a solution to this problem is already on the drawing board.
A temporary traffic light is in the design phase. Temporary lights can be put up quickly, usually in a couple of months, and used until a permanent light can be designed, made and installed – which usually takes around a year, Valdez said.
“Temporary lights aren’t meant to be pretty, they’re meant to alleviate an immediate problem,” Valdez said. “They’re mounted on a wooden pole, with the electrical box on another wooden pole, and there are normally no pedestrian features.”
The permanent light will go into the design phase and be fabricated while the temporary light is up, he said.

      Potholes on Big Bend
Eleanor Thallman’s question about who’s responsible for fixing the potholes on Big Bend Road between U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 is harder to answer. Hillsborough County and FDOT are both responsible for that stretch of road. Although it normally falls within the county’s duties, FDOT has responsibility there too because of the interstate ramps.
“Much of the conditions now found on the road were caused by the recent changes at the on and off ramp areas for I-75,” Valdez said.
Other areas of the road are the responsibility of the county.
No resurfacing of that stretch of road is planned by either Hillsborough County or FDOT at this time.

Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Sun and the South Shore News.