Four Plant City road projects are ranked at the top of the list for the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization for Transportation’s 2014/15 Transportation Improvement Program.
Vice Mayor Rick Lott, who represents Plant City at the MPO, shared with his fellow Plant City commissioners Sept. 9, a draft of the organization’s recent rankings, which it uses to divvy up funding dollars.
Plant City’s high-ranking projects include:
• Adding four special-use lanes on Interstate 4 from 50th Street (Tampa) to County Line Road. (No. 10)
• Widening to four lanes Sam Allen Road from Park Road to the Polk County line (No. 17)
• Street enhancements on State Road 39/Collins Street from Park Road to Alabama Street (No. 20)
• Adding turn lanes and intersections on Charlie Taylor Road from U.S. 92 to Kingsway (No. 27)
“To give you perspective, there are hundreds of projects,” Lott said. “We have four major projects in the top 30.”
The I-4 project still requires funding for design and toll feasibility, and the Sam Allen Road widening requires funding for a Project Development and Environment study. A PD&E study and design has been requested for the Charlie Taylor Road project.
The State Road 39/Collins Street project will be part of the upcoming Midtown redevelopment (see related story, page 1). A feasibility study is under way; funding for design is still needed.
In addition to those rankings, Lott said the widening of Sam Allen Road to four lanes between State Road 39 to Park Road received a programming date of 2018-19.
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
IN OTHER NEWS
• City commissioners reluctantly passed a state-mandated ordinance required the city to allow public comments at the beginning of each City Commission meeting. The city already allows public comment at the end of every meeting.
“I don’t like this at all,” Vice Mayor Rick Lott said. “It’s intrusive.”
City Commissioner Mike Sparkman suggested city staff examine the possibility of adding a total time limit to public comments.
• The City Commission will hold the first public hearing regarding the city’s tentative millage rate, budget, capital improvement budget and asset management program budget at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23, at City Hall, 302 W. Reynolds St.
• The city has placed traffic counters at the intersection of Ball and Waller streets to help determine whether the intersection warrants a four-way stop. Resident Edith Best addressed the City Commission at the Aug. 19 meeting and implored them to consider adding the stop for safety reasons.
