If Plant City were a wishing well, there’s a good chance it’d be filled with pennies tossed from hands with one overwhelming desire: Fix our roads.
It’s a plea city commissioners often remark hearing. Commissioner Mary Mathis said it was the number one complaint she heard from citizens. It’s why the city chose to invest $6 million in road projects last year and why Plant City raised its property-tax rate for the first time in nearly three decades. Plant City wants the world to know it cares about the condition of its streets and the work is underway.
“It’s being accomplished. We have a lot of utility work being completed, streets are being paved now and more rounds are coming,” Interim City Manager Kim Leinbach said. “I’m excited to see it’s already begun. We’re on it right now. We’ve begun a really aggressive program thanks to the mayor and city commission and our public supporting the initiative.”
The city raised its property-tax rate, also known as millage, by $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value (one mill) during its last budget cycle. The $1.9 million generated by the increase
has been used to create a special fund for street resurfacing. Additionally, the city was awarded $2 million of matching funds from the county for the current fiscal year and is working on a similar agreement for the next. Meaning, with the city’s regular investment of between $1 and 2 million, Plant City is on its way to investing $6 million per year in its roadways.
“It shows commitment on part of the city commission and residents in terms of resolving our issues,” Leinbach said. “We’re going to do what we say we’re going do and we’re gonna make sure our infrastructure and services are top-notch.”
Plant City has already initiated the first phase of what will be a continuous cycle of road repairs and resurfacing. City Engineer Michael Schenk said many of the first-phase projects are complete or nearing completion. Work began last year on repairing utilities and resurfacing almost eight miles of Plant City streets. As that work is being completed, Schenk said, the engineering department is preparing to present commissioners with about $6 million more in repair requests for the coming year.
The first two phases of repairs are being done to streets identified by the engineering department, which identified “thoroughfares to move citizens and commerce through the city and improve the conditions of those streets,” Schenk said.
Streets for the next phases will be identified by a “pavement master plan” currently being put together by Tampa-based consulting firm Kisinger Campo and Associates. The plan is expected to be completed by late spring and will provide the city with a five-year plan for road resurfacing. City officials said they’d like to repeat the process and create more plans as road projects are completed.
One of the most widely discussed roads in Plant City is the stretch of Alexander Street running from Interstate 4 to James L. Redman Parkway. Social media coordinators for Plant City marketing and tourism pages said they have been consistently bombarded with questions and comments about repairing the road, which now falls under the purview of the Florida Department of Transportation. According to FDOT spokesperson David Botello, the Alexander Street resurfacing project is currently in the design phase and will begin construction by the fall.
FDOT will also be working on a number of other projects in Plant City including, lighting improvements to I-4, widening Sam Allen Road and repaving parts of Thonotosassa Road and Reynolds Street. FDOT is steeped in other Plant City projects as well, like the Knights Griffin Bridge replacement which should be completed by the summer.
As important as improved roads are to residents, city leaders said pleasant roads are necessary for economic growth in the city. Some visitors say they agree.
Amy Atzel said she has visited Plant City from her home in Minneapolis a few times and would love to see more attention paid to bike paths and roadways as well. She said it’s a great way for visitors to experience Plant City’s “unique little downtown.”
“Bike lanes would be good,” Atzel said. “Visitors appreciate it. They need something to do. It’s so much better than driving and, here in Florida, you can do that all year round.”
City planners are also looking at incorporating aspects of a recently completed walk/bike plan into ongoing improvements to make Plant City more pedestrian and cyclist friendly.
Plant City, it seems, is literally paving the way towards progress.