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Protests Quash Road Project

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By TOM BRENNAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2007

BLOOMINGDALE - Emphatic protests over a plan to extend John Moore Road and bring more traffic through residential neighborhoods have forced planners to cancel the proposal.

After being inundated by hundreds of telephone calls, e-mails and letters, county planners and consultants have dropped the idea of linking John Moore to Bell Shoals Road by extending it to Apache Lane in the Indian Hills subdivision.

'We are thrilled they listened to us and our concerns,' said Carolyn Petrizzo, president of the Dogwood Hills Homeowners Association, a John Moore subdivision south of Bloomingdale Avenue.

The extension was part of a proposed update of the South County Transportation Plan.

'There has been overwhelming opposition to the extension and concerns of environmental impacts, cut-through traffic and lowering property values,' said Ned Baier, the county's chief transportation planner. 'We have also learned that John Moore Road has a tendency to flood.

'We are no longer recommending John Moore Road be included in the plan. It no longer makes sense.'

Residents throughout southern and eastern Hillsborough County fumed over the way planners and consultants drew up their list of projects meant to improve traffic flow from Bloomingdale Avenue south. Many complained the plan would turn neighborhoods into busy arteries, and others opposed proposals to build a bypass linking Interstates 4 and 75 and two new bridges over the Alafia River.

They got the attention of county Commissioners Rose Ferlita and Al Higginbotham, who questioned whether residents were afforded enough input in the planning process. County planners agreed to delay the process, revise the project list and hold additional public meetings.

Consultants said they proposed the John Moore Road extension because they were looking for ways to connect existing roads to ease traffic on other arteries. They said it looked simple to make the link on aerial maps.

But the circumstances changed once planners explored the idea on the ground level.

'We learned a lot about and from the neighborhood,' Baier said.

Petrizzo said residents must remain vigilant about road projects.

'We are anxious some developer might try to open this up later,' she said.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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