It’s about that time again, if you can believe it. Folks are gearing up to celebrate another New Year’s Eve.

In the spirit of recollection and review that has settled over the South Tampa News, I’m taking a quick look both ways before I cross into the coming year.

Here are a few excerpts from our 2005 adventures on the road:



* After piles of petitions and vociferous complaints, Swann Estates residents received approval in spring 2005 for the installation of speed tables along Swann Avenue between Lois and Church avenues. A transportation study listed the Swann Avenue site among the city’s 64 worst speeding locations.
We keep pulling out the Band-Aids as growth continues.



* The Kennedy Boulevard Bridge was torn down and replaced with a smooth road designed to allow all Lee Roy Selmon Expressway lanes to unload directly onto Meridian Avenue.
The throughway was slated to reopen in May, but to this day is still blocked off, due in part to closures necessitated by rampant condo construction in the Channel District.

* Back in August, part of Bayshore Boulevard caved in after leaky joints in an underground stormwater culvert box loosened dirt below the road’s surface. The road was shut down for a few days while crews worked on repairs. Shortly thereafter, drivers resumed their usual cruising velocities along the boulevard.
A new electronic sign that racks and posts speeds of passing cars provided some deterrent to those inclined to abuse the limit.

* Walking signals on several downtown crosswalks get spiffed up with timers. Pedestrians now know exactly how many seconds remain until a maniacally speeding motorist tries to mow them over.



* Continued construction to Interstate 275 shut down an exit to Ashley Street, but no one in South Tampa noticed, because the intersection in question lay north of Kennedy Boulevard.



* Yet another wastewater cave-in struck in the fall, this time along the center lane of Platt Street, closing the thoroughfare from Plant Avenue east to Bayshore Boulevard. City workers keep putting out the proverbial fires as I spin gags about the 50-year-old pipes needing some reconstructive surgery.



* The long-sought-after traffic light at South Dale Mabry Highway and Ballast Point Boulevard was finally installed and, after a tense waiting period, was also lit. Residents breathed sighs of relief in anticipation of fewer fatal accidents.



* Resurfacing began on the western stretch of Bay to Bay Boulevard, well known for being riddled with eye-jiggling potholes. Unfortunately, the first step in resurfacing is to remove surface asphalt and score the road’s surface – so things get a little worse before they get better. Hang in there.



And so, several improvements are under way at last, but recent studies don’t speak well of local road conditions. A city audit listed more than 100 Tampa streets as being in such poor shape parts of them are barely adequate for travel.

The widening of Manhattan Avenue and improvements to the intersection of MacDill Avenue and Azeele Street are among projects expected to begin in early 2006.

Looking around at the state of our streets, and taking that audit into consideration, I’m guessing that’s going to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Until then, have a safe New Year.



Send rants and raves about South Tampa traffic to Mitzi Gordon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).