It’s time for me to take a new road.

I’ve had a good run here at the South Tampa News, but an opportunity has come around the corner that I cannot ignore.

As of July 17, I’ll be leaving behind my South Tampa editor’s post – and with it, this traffic column – to tackle a new venture for Media General.

My task is to launch a stylish, weekly nightlife and culture publication for the under-35 set, and I’m excited about the creative possibilities. It’s a chance to turn my skills toward a new purpose, and discover what it takes to build a publication up from the ground.

I feel I’ve learned, and hopefully accomplished, many things through my study and discussion of traffic, while navigating city departments and planting seeds of change.

So many readers have written in with thoughts and observances, keeping me informed of South Tampa road conditions. Without each of you as eyes and ears, this street beat would have never gotten rolling.

Many had concerns I was not able to address before leaving. It’s hard for me to let these go, but they don’t have to remain as dead ends.

Unexplored issues will be passed on for my successor to research, and as that new editor prepares to take the wheel, community input remains vitally important.

Please, keep writing. The staff here needs to know about potholes, parking snarls and speeders on your streets.

It’s one small outlet to affect progress. Use it.

And remember to stay safe out there.

I’ll see you on the streets.

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I’m going to do something a little different in this space this week. Usually, I take excerpts from readers’ letters and seek answers to the questions they ask. But today, I’m going to let you hear directly from the letter writers. I thought some of you might enjoy reading the words your neighbors use to describe their frustrations with South Shore’s roads and traffic.
These letters do not appear with other Letters to the Editor because they are all addressed specifically to this column and revolve around one thing: traffic.
At the end of this space, I will attempt to briefly answer, or at least comment, on each. Meanwhile, let’s listen to what our neighbors have to say on the subject of roads and traffic.

u Don Lynch writes
“In and around the Sun City Center area there are a lot of street intersections, including shopping centers and residential where landscaping has grown to block the view of drivers who want to cross or enter the street.
Some of us want to pull out of our driveway but our view is blocked by overgrown trees and shrubs on private property. Since Del Webb built beautiful winding streets, we have a scary challenge. Add to this the speeders.
I respectfully suggest we all walk outside our homes and businesses and look to see if we can help eliminate these traffic hazards.
Thank you. I look forward each week to reading your column.

u Herb Cashvan writes
“I have never written to you, but I enjoy your column each week. One thing has bugged me for a long time and just recently it has got to the point that I feel you are the only one who will give me and a lot of my friends an answer as to why this is being done. For example, many homes are being built on Shell Point Road before the road is widened, which you know is only a narrow two lanes. We are thinking this is like putting the cart before the horse.
You have been very informative in the past and most times have answered questions that we think have pretty much satisfied us. Looking forward to your answer.”

u Susan Grosskopf writes
“First, let me say, this column is the one thing I am sure to read every week. It always has information that interests me.
After reading your May 24 edition, I felt I had to write regarding two issues: One is the high rate of airplane traffic for approximately five days in May. (Unlike the jets from Tampa International Airport described in the column) the planes my friends and I noticed flying low day and night were not out of TIA, I’m sure. They looked like F-16s and A-10s, probably from MacDill.
And second, I have a problem with one intersection in particular and that’s turning left off Platinum Drive onto South Pebble Beach Boulevard (in Sun City Center). Some problems are due to overgrown landscaping but it’s primarily due to poor landscaping. Granted, the sawgrass is not being kept trimmed, but the biggest culprit is a very large – fat – palm tree. Some time ago I notified our community resource deputy (Rob) Thornton about the intersection’s poor visibility and immediately the stop line was moved farther out into the intersection. But then the county resurfaced the area and put the stop line back to its original location. I notified deputy Thornton again but the line has not been moved again. Why not just use the best and more permanent solution and remove the palm tree?”

u Linda Nelstead writes
“Thank you so much for your input about getting a red light at the intersection of Big Bend Road and Summerfield Boulevard. As a resident of Summerfield Crossings, I can finally feel safe when turning left onto Big Bend. Again, thank you for becoming involved.”

u Kay Pye writes
“What a super job you do with your column. Please keep up the good work.
I am writing about the First Street Southwest and 14th Avenue changes (in Ruskin). I know you can’t stop progress, and we have all enjoyed our sleepy little town for many years. When I read an article about the traffic count done on First Street, I wondered who counted and what school they went to. They said they only counted 13 cars a day there (making 14th the more traveled of the two that intersect where recent changes were made).
I have driven that road (First Street Southwest) at least four times a day since 1971 and have not seen many wrecks at the intersection where those two streets join. But where they come out onto U.S. 41 is a different story. (They join and then within a few yards intersect with U.S. 41.) I think it would have made more sense to put turn signals on the U.S. 41 light (turning onto First Street). That is the dangerous spot.
Now, someone needs to install a sign that says that First Street does not allow (left) turns so people will remember to turn (off U.S. 41) on 16th Street and go down the little narrow road that enters (U.S.) 41 instead.
(The way it is now, you have) to go down 14th to Sixth Street and then try and cross State Road 674. This is a nightmare and is also putting more traffic in front of the (Ruskin) elementary school. I also feel that closing the access to cross (U.S.) 41 at that intersection has devalued property (in the area).”

u OK. Let me try and comment on the points made in these letters. First off, if you haven’t seen your letter yet, it doesn’t mean I didn’t value it. I just don’t have the space to get them all in this week, and plan to use some more soon.
I agree with Don and Susan about the landscaping problems. And they certainly aren’t limited to Sun City Center. I know it won’t make either of you feel any better, but in Summerfield Crossings where I live, so many large oaks and sago palms were planted too close to homes built in the 1980s that they’ve now cracked driveways and sidewalks and the roots are heading under our homes.
My personal observation is that some developers plant what makes the yards look nice when the homes are new – often using far too many, and far too large – trees and shrubs to give the subdivision an immediate “homey” look. It’s part of what Realtors call the “gingerbread effect.”
Don and Susan’s concerns about landscaping are definitely valid. Perhaps they could get together and brainstorm a path to a solution. Meanwhile, homeowners should look at what’s in their own yard and if a tree or bush is large enough to be a hazard to drivers (or anyone else for that matter) then trim it. But remember – the county, and other environmental authorities, require permits to remove trees.
Herb’s question about Shell Point Road presents a conundrum. For some reason, home densities that were approved many years ago must comply with today’s building codes (when built) yet the transportation plan is exempt from including them.
As of today, county officials have assured me that the 2025 Transportation Plan Map is still “official” and unless private entities step up with the green, no widening of Shell Point Road will be done.
Any new development proposed for that area would have to kick in funding for Shell Point improvements like developers recently did to be allowed to build along U.S. 301. But those units already approved – according to transportation manager Ned Baier – will not affect a widening unless a new traffic study is done and the road reclassified as “a failed road.”
As for Susan’s observation about the planes: you obviously know more about aircraft than I, so I completely defer. My May 24 column was based solely on an interview with officials at Tampa International Airport. If MacDill had military operations that took planes off their regular flight paths and over South Shore, I had no way of knowing it.
And last but not least, to attempt to answer Kay’s letter, I drove back to the U.S. 41 intersection with First Street Southwest and 14th Avenue in Ruskin today, just to make sure nothing had changed since I wrote my June 14 column.
Just as I was about to say that county officials said the work is complete and the intersection – including the new median – will remain as it is, Baier called me back and said there had been enough public outcry that the county planned to schedule a community meeting in August but no date has yet been set.
Keep those letters coming. You’re what makes writing this column fun. Send your questions and concerns to me at 3032 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, an affiliate of The Tampa Tribune

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I noticed an oddity the other day while driving on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard. I saw a car that did not have anywhere on its body a ribbon-shaped magnet. Honest. No magnets.

OK, OK, I’m being facetious. There may be more than one car on the road that does not sport a ribbon magnet.

What I have noticed, though, is the proliferation of messages that now appear in ribbon shape. Didn’t this all begin a few years ago with something like “Support our troops” in colors that were usually yellow or red, white and blue or camouflage?

Today magnetmania carries messages over highways and byways in themes ranging from patriotic to medical to animal rights to family matters to sports and on and on. Any day now I expect to see the ultimate message – “Whatever!”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-ribbon magnets. In fact, I have been known to gaze in admiration and awe when I see 10 or 15 multicolored beribboned messages neatly aligned on the back of a car or truck. I guess that comes from driving a little Toyota that doesn’t offer a lot of blank space for proclaiming personal sentiments.

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Out on the road, some problems just don’t have simple solutions.

Take the rush of cars zooming past my office’s picture window each day. I thought perhaps a few red lights would slow them down, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.

In a recent column, I discussed an accident that occurred on Bay to Bay Boulevard outside our shared Tampa Tribune and South Tampa News offices. It was the second accident I’ve witnessed in a string of near-hits that happen regularly on this fast-moving road.

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Do lovebugs have any redeeming qualities?

I asked myself that question the other morning as I traversed the battle zone along U.S. 41 enduring a lovebug barrage – rat-a-splat-splat, rat-a-splat-splat – on my windshield. Squinting to see between the disarranged body parts smearing my vision, I contemplated the question. What possible good are they?

I recalled hearing that the adult female life span is 2-3 days, during which there seems to be only one thing on her little mind, and that one thing definitely includes a travel companion.

Well, I can already hear a few readers out there thinking, “Wish that’s all I had to think about 24 hours a day!”

Before you get too enamored of the idea, keep in mind that their mealtime is also spent in their Kama sutra position. Do you really believe you would be able to fully appreciate a loaded Domino’s pizza, a cup of Starbucks best, an Applebee’s salad, chocolate anything and other favorite soul food while locked in a 24-hour lovers embrace? Hmmm, that’s food for thought, isn’t it?

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Let’s start with the ‘good’
I was floored the other day when I pulled out of my south Summerfield neighborhood to find a traffic light at the corner of Summerfield Boulevard and Big Bend Road.
Oh, I knew it was coming – eventually.
The county had promised to put up a temporary signal while working on getting us a permanent one.
But so soon? The temporary signal is up about three months ahead of schedule and it seemed to go up in a single day. Thinking back, I remembered I had noticed a new “electrical-looking box” on one of the intersection’s corners a few days before.
And then suddenly, there it was. Our beautiful signal light.
Those of you, who, like me, must access that intersection (especially going west) between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. and again during the hours between 4:40 and 7 p.m., know just how welcome this traffic signal is.
Instead of four-to-six cars sitting helter-skelter in the median, each pointing its nose in a different direction as long lines wait at all four corners of the intersection, waiting for a light to change is a comparative pleasure. At least now we know, as that 1962 classic ballad says: that “Our Day Will Come.”
I was floored again when I received two letters crediting Road Raves with the installation of the light.
“Your continuous efforts have paid off!” writes Doris Karnes of Riverview. “The light at Big Bend Road and Summerfield Boulevard is a direct result of your diligence. Like you, I had to drive up Big Bend every day and do a U-turn to get out. Thank you for following this through.”
Other compliments followed – enough that I felt like all those calls to county traffic engineers had really made a difference.
And that’s great, because most times I feel like I’m banging my head against a stone wall. People write in their complaints; I make dozens of telephone calls; get partial or incomplete answers, and then get more reader letters ripping me apart for something I’ve written based on the answers I’ve received from the powers that be.
So thank you again, Doris, for your encouraging letter.
The second complimentary letter-writer is going to remain anonymous. That’s my choice because he was so proud of a result obtained after calls to the county for this column that he said he wanted to start a fan club. (I did say no.) But to think some of the editors at our sister publications didn’t like the idea of writing about traffic every week!
Now for the ‘bad’
Some residents say the new median and one-way signs at the intersection of First Street Southwest, 14th Avenue and U.S. 41 in Ruskin are creating a lot of problems.
In other words, they say the recent changes are “bad.”
But if county transportation officials are correct in their planning, what residents are complaining about could someday become a life-saver.
The problem now occurring with the median is two-fold, as you can see from the two photographs accompanying this column.
Drivers can no longer turn west onto U.S. 41 from 14th Avenue and drivers turning off U.S. 41 must now make a quick decision as to which path to take or hit a stone median.
The new median forces one-ways that don’t seem to make any sense. There has been a perfectly good traffic light at that intersection for at least 10 years. You could arrive at it from either one of the intersecting streets. Then, as you approached U.S. 41, you could do what we all learned in kindergarten – look to the right; look to the left – and the proceed with caution into whichever turn lane you needed, depending upon whether you were heading east or west.
Now, traveling from 14th Avenue, you must turn east. And from First Street Southwest, you must turn west. You have no other options. That’s just the way it is.
Bob Campbell, chief of transportation planning for the county, says someday, this will be a help to residents.
“When all the new development comes in, cars will be lined up along 14th Avenue and without the median, there was too much potential for right-angle or front-end collisions, which are extremely dangerous,” he said. “That median is for public safety. Without it, people trying to access (U.S.) 41 from First Street could try and force their way into the line between cars (coming off 14th) and be seriously injured or killed.”
Although residents say they are inconvenienced by this situation now and some are even making U-turns (actually it takes more than one try as the street is so narrow) around the extension of the median on 14th Avenue, Campbell says residents will be glad it’s there when all the new homes are finished and the thousands of new residents move into that area.
The median was a condition of permitting the new River Bend development in the area, Campbell said. But not just because of that development. The county takes all the new developments into account, and when a road looks like it will become stressed with another one, the requirement kicks in.
River Bend just happened to request a permit at that time.
“River Bend paid for all the improvements,” he said. “But they certainly won’t be the only ones using them.”
The project is far from finished.
When it is completed, Campbell said, there will be a turn lane for each direction – both north and south – onto U.S. 41 from 14th Avenue, while people exiting First Street will still have to go north, he said.
Another part of the project is the extension of the left-hand turn lane from U.S. 41 onto First Street, which is now completed except for painting the lines and arrows, he said.
And last but not least,
the ‘ugly’
Ken Bauer of Hawaiian Isles in Ruskin writes that despite a crew of workers picking up loads of trash last month along U.S. 41 between Cockroach Bay Road and the Little Manatee River Bridge, that roadway is again full of bags, papers, tires and garbage.
“It’s all in the median and on both shoulders of the road,” Ken writes. “Don’t people care? It only takes a small plastic bag in the car to hold any trash which can be removed from the car when the people exit.”
Well Ken, I agree with you. I often have my 8-year-old and several of my grandchildren (funny to have a daughter younger than any of your grandchildren!) packed in my ‘95 Saturn eating and drinking a variety of snacks on the way to and from the many places we go.
Our rule is “if the birds can’t eat it, don’t throw it out.” And that pretty much limits our window-trash to sandwich crusts.
u Thank you all for your letters. Keep sending your questions and concerns to me at 3032 College Ave., Ruskin, FL 33570 or e-mail them to with “Road Raves” in the subject line. Please notice that is a new address.

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

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It happened again.

Last week, there was another accident directly outside my office at 3251 Bay to Bay Blvd. I didn’t get all the details, but it involved two SUVs and no one was seriously hurt.

It gave us all a jolt, though. The impact was loud, hard and fast, and the rest of traffic continued to speed around the marooned vehicles.

Some passing drivers even honked their horns, as if the victims were blocking traffic just to be obnoxious.

I don’t know what’s worse – that situation or the one I encountered on Bayshore Boulevard a few days later. I was driving southbound, coming up on a green light at Howard Avenue, but the cars in front of me kept slowing.

I couldn’t figure it out, until I glanced to my left across the median. In the northbound lanes, some kind of vintage pickup was crushed into a nearly unrecognizable state. The accident must have happened just a few moments earlier.

I have never understood rubbernecking, but it happens all the time. I see it a lot on I-4 when I’m headed over to Orlando. Whole long lines of cars can be slowed by one driver’s curiosity.

Personally, I think it’s rather morbid.

As motorists, we need to stay aware of our surroundings, but unless there is something I can directly do to help at an accident site, I keep out of the way and keep moving. The authorities know their jobs. Slowing and staring creates further traffic snarls and potential problems.

And really, what is there to look at?

Back to the accident on Bay to Bay – I know that compared to some South Tampa sites, this road doesn’t rate too high on the city’s crash-incident list. Surprising, but true.

From my perspective behind the wheel, Bay to Bay gets faster and more dangerous all the time. It’s become thick with a highway mentality, but it’s still just a four-lane road, one directly abutted by small businesses, sidewalks and even some front lawns.

I’m forced to take the boulevard because of work, but I use back routes and avoid it whenever I can.

Maybe I’m biased, but I think perhaps a traffic light at key positions, such as the Ferdinand Avenue intersection, could go a long way toward forcing slower speeds.

Meanwhile, we could all stand to be more cautious and a little nicer.

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I’ve spent a good part of the last two days looking into the bus services available for people with special needs so I could answer a letter I recently received from Jim and Jody Johnson of Sun City Center.
They have a neighbor in an electric wheelchair and thought he would be a perfect candidate for HARTline’s HARTplus program for the disabled.
He wasn’t, and they were disappointed.
“I thought this program would be the answer for our wheelchair residents to enjoy the many attractions the Tampa Bay area has to offer,” the letter said. “We were shocked to find that this valuable service is not available in Sun City Center yet it’s available in Apollo Beach. Sun City Center residents would have to find their way to Apollo Beach to take advantage of it.”
Whoa! Available in Apollo Beach but not Sun City Center? I knew I had to check this one out.
After speaking with Kathy Karalekas, HARTline spokeswoman, and Lauren Skiver, HARTline’s director of paratransit and customer services, I have a better picture of just how severely flawed our public transportation system is.
But not just for the disabled. For everyone.

First, the overall problem
In a state where people are regularly asked to use public transportation, Skiver, who is not disabled, says it would probably take her four to five hours to ride public transportation from Tampa to Sun City Center and some other parts of South Shore.
Skiver says people do not want to pay for more routes, so each one takes in a lot of territory and makes a bunch of stops.
While it is ridiculous to think people who must get to appointments, buy groceries and – good grief – get to work, could live on this kind of schedule, the problem goes even deeper than that. There are no rest stops; water fountains or bathrooms on the routes, which makes the long ride times even more unbearable.

Not treated differently
Yet Skiver says HARTline complies fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The whole purpose of the ADA is that people with limited abilities such as loss of sight, hearing or mobility are not treated any differently than those who have all those abilities,” she said.
Since HARTline routes 84 and 31 that run in South Shore, and connect to make Tampa travel possible, are both equipped with wheelchair floor lifts (as are all HARTline’s regular buses) they fit the legal requirements for travel for the disabled.
“Still, we make 6,000 special transports a month. Each costing between $30 to $38 each way (between Tampa and South Shore). The point is, if it takes me five hours to get from here to there, it also takes other riders (including the disabled) the same amount of time,” she said.
While HARTline recognizes the lengthy ride times are not feasible for many, especially those with special needs, Skiver says they cannot do any better with the funds they are allotted.
“We want to put more rubber on the road. That’s our business. But you can’t do it without funding,” she said.

So are there any special services for the disabled?
The answer is yes, but they often don’t meet the needs of those they are intended to help.
I was told that people with physical, cognitive, emotional, visual or other disabilities that make it impossible for them to use HARTline’s fixed-route bus service, either permanently or for a certain period of time, may be eligible for HARTplus services.
Two things must be done to find out if a person qualifies.
First, an application must be submitted. This may be obtained by calling HARTline’s information line, 254-4278, or by logging onto HARTline’s Web site, http://www.hartline.org.
Next, a personal interview and functional evaluation will be done. Transportation to this interview can be provided if necessary and written information provided by a physician or social service agency may be brought to the interview and considered in the eligibility process as part of the assessment.

Please explain HARTplus
HARTplus services are not “anytime” trips, like are provided by a private cab. They are available on the same days and times as HARTline’s local buses and cost from $2.60 to $5.20, depending on the destination, payable only with exact change or by using a HARTline punch pass.

What’s available
through HARTplus?
HARTaccess: Van services for those who cannot get to a bus stop or use a regular bus.
HARTlink: For people who can ride a regular route, but cannot get to bus stops. Van services take these people to the regular bus stop.
HARTflex: Also for people who can use a regular bus, but cannot get to a bus stop but it is different from HARTlink. This is a regular bus that can leave its regular route for as much as 3/4 of one mile to pick up an eligible person for an additional fee.
So in conclusion
Getting back to Jim and Jody Johnson’s letter; the e-mail that started my quest for the truth about South Shore’s bus system.
Let’s face it, this system is not working. It isn’t user friendly.
I’ve lived in places including parts of Europe where public transportation was so good it would be silly to even own a car. And, I’ve lived in parts of Tennessee where if you forget an item at the nearest general store you have to drive 25 or 30 miles down a dirt or gravel road to retrieve it.
South Shore is somewhere between those two scenarios but more closely resembles the second.
It would be impossible to work at most jobs available here without having a car – or a very reliable friend. Things are just too far apart.
And grocery shopping is impossible on public transportation because by the time you get home, your perishable foods are spoiled.
But do we want to pay for more public transportation? Remember the smaller class sizes we wanted but couldn’t afford?
Money: that’s the key to bus service, health care, class size, emergency personnel, teacher’s pay – in fact, to all the crises Floridians hear about every day.
Jim and Jody, I’m glad you cared enough about your friend’s needs to write me. And I’m sure my digging out this information will help others, as well. But in the end, I can give you no comforting answer.
As of today, there isn’t one.
u 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.

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With all the fires in South Shore and a presidential visit last week I let my mailbag build up, and it is really full.
Just so you know I’ve got you covered, I figured I’d mention all the questions I’ll be attempting to answer in the next couple of weeks. Don’t stop writing just because you can see there’s a backlog. Questions are the backbone of this column, and eventually I’ll call all the people necessary to get answers to them.
Stuart Cox of Riverview wants to know if there’s any way to make the corner of Berner Lane and U.S. 301 safer for the school children who use it for a bus stop; Judy Ulrich asks about the sudden frequency of low-flying airplanes over her neighborhood; William Gaither of Sun City Center is worried about noisy employees of a local facility speeding up and down Del Webb Boulevard; Jim and Jody Johnson want me to find out why they can’t get county transportation for the disabled to come to Sun City Center; two people who have asked to remain anonymous want me to find out if Sun City Center residents’ golf cart privileges may be in jeopardy if South Pebble Beach Boulevard is connected to U.S. 301; Pat Noelle also addresses the Pebble Beach connection, but her concern isn’t golf carts, it’s being trapped in an emergency if the road doesn’t go through; and Don Lynch is concerned about overgrown landscaping blocking vision at intersections.
Last but not least, there’s Mary Mahey who wrote just to thank me for answering the questions readers send to this column. “This is great stuff. I can really relate to it and it hits the nail on the head every time,” Mary said.
I really appreciate your comments Mary, because it’s amazing how many people take more time to criticize others than to say thanks.
Trying to take the letters in the order they came, this week I have answers for Stuart and Judy.
Louis Miller, executive director at Tampa International Airport, has explained Judy’s question about aircraft noise.
He said that the west runway at TIA was closed for 19 days and reopened May 15. The closing changed air traffic patterns sending planes over South Shore instead of Tampa Bay.
“Flights have now returned to the normal Informal Runway Use Program, which dictates approaches and departures over Tampa Bay to minimize noise to residential areas,” Miller said.
The $13.4 million construction project on the airport’s busiest runway required several changes that definitely would have been noticeable in South Shore.
Air traffic should be back to normal now. I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned it.
Meanwhile Stuart is worried about the dangerous school bus stop on Berner Lane and U.S. 301. Berner Lane extends west off U.S. 301 into a fair-sized mobile home park.
This area is a problem all the way around because it is so close to three of the busiest intersections on U.S. 301 in Riverview – Gibsonton/Boyette, Symmes and Big Bend roads.
Trying to get in or out of Berner Lane at any time of day is no easy task. During rush hours, it is almost impossible, unless you get very creative and turn right to go left, or begin inching between lines of cars while they’re stopped at a distant traffic light. The problem with doing that, however, is that while one driver may let you get part-way out, the next car behind may not care if he rams you or not while defending what he (or she) believes to be the right to proceed the second the light turns green.
In 1996, ‘97 I had friends that lived on Berner Lane. It was a quiet little place then, where kids rode bikes to each other’s houses and bounced basketballs into a hoop on rollers in the street.
No more.
Until that stretch of road is widened and median and curb improvements made, the children standing on the corner of U.S. 301 and Berner Lane waiting for the bus need to move back into the field that abuts the highway. I know the dew on the grass gets their legs and shoes wet, but there’s no way to safely stand on the pavement and wait for a bus at that corner.
And the bus is not going to go into the mobile home park.
The school system is short 20 drivers in South Shore. They’ve gained two since the last time I asked; five from the beginning of the current school year. With drivers in that short supply, school district officials say they aren’t looking to add any stops, but to eliminate some.
I’m so glad there are people like you, Stuart, who still care about other people’s children. It’s up to us, as drivers, to watch out for those children, and others, waiting for their school buses along the dangerous stretches of South Shore’s roads.
u 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

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That middle-of-the-night rainstorm last week took us all by surprise, especially the weather forecasters.

Heavy though it was, at least by current dry standards, the rainfall did not collect into any major puddles in my neighborhood.

Not so where Janet Rockey lives in Palma Ceia. Flooded streets are a typical problem there, she explained in a recent e-mail, and drivers of monster SUVs often make the problem worse.

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The other evening while driving east on State Road 52 just before dusk, I spotted a deer in a field. It was such a delight to see that graceful animal leaping in the grass instead of dead by the side of the road, and it got me to thinking about roadkill in general.

I remember one day a couple of years ago while driving out of Lake Park, I saw a large gopher turtle in the middle of the road. Since I was on a park road, it was a simple matter to stop my car and get out to move the turtle off the road. Even so, I felt a little awkward about delaying other motorists. However, when one truck pulled around my car and the young man driving it honked at me and gave me a thumbs up sign, I realized I was not alone in trying to avoid this particular roadkill.

About a year later, after covering a story in Odessa, I was on my way back to the office, driving around an S-curve in one of our rare, remaining rural areas when I again saw a large turtle in the road. It was in the other lane and had decided with its turtle brain, perhaps influenced by big things moving all around it, to stop, tuck in its head and hide inside its shell (I’ve felt that way a time or two myself). Since it was sitting just around the curve where a driver would not see it until it was too late, I figured its chance for a long and happy life was rapidly diminishing.

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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.

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I’ve been writing about the area now known as South Shore for almost 25 years, 19 of them with this publication, and have come to know the area – and its people – pretty well.
While many of South Shore’s communities grew randomly as people moved in, built houses and started businesses, Sun City Center was a master-planned development built by Dell E. Webb. The grand opening was Jan. 1, 1962.
Originally, Sun City Center was much smaller, with homes only in the area near its original Town Hall on Cherry Hills Boulevard; well before Community Hall, which now stands on South Pebble Beach Boulevard, was even a twinkle in the developer’s eye.
The areas now known as Sundance, south of Sun City Center on U.S. 301, and the Villages of Cypress Creek – which now carry a Ruskin address – were part of Webb’s original site plan but were split off and made into family-style housing communities in subsequent site plan modifications.
But Sun City Center continued to be a retirement mecca.
The community was considered safe and secure partly because its private streets were accessible only from State Road 674, which was, until the mid-1980s, a quiet, two-lane road.
The master plan showed the community as “closed in” in every other direction.
A security patrol was formed by volunteers to watch out for anything, or anyone, suspicious who came into the area.
As the community grew into what is now known as Greater Sun City Center, which includes Kings Point and nearby assisted living and nursing home facilitates, expansion brought people, and people brought in more and more of the outside world.
Early Sun City Center residents didn’t like that. They wanted to keep their lifestyle as it was.
Then, some time in the mid-1980s when different residents moved in, Sun City Center’s volunteerism spread from within the community to other areas of South Shore. Residents started working in area schools, at the hospital, in the newly formed legal program for low -income families and at the area’s two missions.
Still, when they went home at night, it was to the “closed in” security of Sun City Center. In fact, they’d been promised by their developer that no roads would be built through the community that would connect to highways. People would always have to enter from State Road 674, which would make “outsiders” easy to monitor.
Then in 1989, the Florida Legislature granted Sun City Center residents the privilege of driving golf carts on its private streets. But soon, golf carts caused a problem for transportation on State Road 674 and the Florida Department of Transportation was called upon to set specific golf cart crossing stations on it.
Although many things have changed since then, access to the community has remained restricted.
Now, Hillsborough County is making community plans for as many areas as possible to help control the type of growth each area wants.
Since each community is different, they all want different things.
In January, a county planning map revealed South Pebble Beach Boulevard connecting to U.S. 301, just south of the new Renaissance community in southeast Sun City Center.
While some residents say this would grant them easier access out of the community, heading toward Ellenton or Parrish on U.S. 301 without having to backtrack to State Road 674, the Community Association representing more than 11,000 residents is taking a serious look at the county’s maps.
They think most residents will oppose this vehemently.
Just where did the idea of this “opening” into the community come from? How long has it been on county maps, and who put it there are some of the questions community leaders are asking.
Brian Grady, a planner with the county’s Planning and Growth Management Office, told me May 3 that the road connection went on the map as part of a general site plan modification in 1990.
He says county’s records state that the developer is required to connect South Pebble Beach Boulevard to U.S. 301.
But as of May 3, Katherine Han, spokeswoman for Sun City Center’s developer, WCI Communities Inc., says WCI has no plans to connect those roads. Going further than that, Han stated in an e-mail that the developer would honor the wishes of the community.
The county planning map, which will be available for view at the next Sun City Center Community Plan meeting May 15 at 4 p.m. at the South Shore Regional Service Center, 410 30th St. S.E., Ruskin, shows the South Pebble Beach Boulevard connection to U.S. 301 as a yellow line intersecting at a point which will be occupied by a new commercial center on one side and the entrance to Forest Brooke, a new 2,800-home single-family community (not part of Sun City Center) on the other.
The Sun City Center Community Association has formed a committee to study the maps and poll residents about the plan before approaching county commissioners asking them to intervene so that “no outside access” is permitted through Sun City Center.
Resident fears include traffic going through the community, “outsiders” bringing litter and possibly crime, and the possibility that more cars on the roads could cause FDOT to pull the special golf cart privileges currently enjoyed by Sun City Center residents.
Grady says in order for the developer, WCI, to be relieved of “its responsibility to connect the roads” is for that company to petition commissioners with a personal appearance and ask that the requirement be removed.
They can’t just “not do it.”
With all the development in the area, it will be interesting to see the results of the resident’s poll and also whether any such poll will have an affect on county commissioners.
Traffic meeting
Hillsborough County will have a public meeting May 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Riverview High School in the cafeteria, 11311 Boyette Road. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the widening of Boyette Road from Balm-Riverview Road to Donneymoor Drive. The estimated $10.5 million project will include widening the Boyette Road section from two lanes to a four-lane divided highway with sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus bays and landscaping. Construction is expected to begin in late 2006 and be completed by late 2007. 

Penny Fletcher is the editor of The Sun and the South Shore News, affiliates of The Tampa Tribune

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Last Tuesday morning, I got up with the sun for an unusually early appointment.

I don’t usually fight the crack-of-dawn traffic. Not having far to drive, I was surprised by the amount of stress fitting into those few miles.

The worst of several incidents was being in front of a giant, silver, gas-guzzling SUV whose operator blared horn and extended middle finger when I didn’t turn onto Bayshore fast enough for his or her liking.

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A week has passed, and now my No. 1 question about the Bayshore Boulevard/Howard Avenue pedestrian crossing is: What’s the hubbub about?

It’s an intersection I pass through every day, often twice a day, and I have yet to see any major traffic snarls as a result of the new crossing.

I’m sure some readers out there will disagree. One of them, Mike Luetgert of San Nicholas Street, recently sent me an e-mail criticizing the new walkway and subsequent red lights.

Luetgert, who said he travels Bayshore on a daily basis, wrote that he was “against the installation of a light(s), and would sign a petition to have them removed.”

“Bayshore is the only remaining vista Tampa has left, and to purposely create a parking lot (there) is a disaster,” he continued.

But will it be a parking lot? I’ve seen no evidence, as of yet, that the signal change has increased congestion to painful proportions.

Nonetheless, complaints continue to roll in, and I’m keeping watch on the site.

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