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Widening Should Finish By Fall

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By LENORA LAKE

llake@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

UNIVERSITY AREA - Construction on the first phase of a long-awaited North 22nd Street improvement project is running about 90 days behind schedule.

That means the widening of the thoroughfare won't be completed until August or September, said Hillsborough County Public Works spokesman Steve Valdez.

The road-widening will lay the groundwork for the Main Street project, with bus bays, green space, wide sidewalks and improved lighting. The project is part of the decades-long redevelopment of the blighted community.

"It's been a challenge and a half," Valdez said last week.

He said the delay has been caused by several factors, including cable, telephone, electric, water and sewer lines being in a compact area. The crews have not been able to work at the same time, and some services have to be expanded.

Valdez said the area has an aspect the county has not encountered in other projects - a dense population of pedestrians. Residents walk to mass transit stops or stores in the area, to school bus stops and to activities at a park and community center on 22nd Street. There also are a number of adult wheelchair and scooters users along the street.

"We have always had to deal with vehicular traffic, but we have never had an area with so much mass transit use," Valdez said.

Preliminary work started in September 2007 with the installation of underground telephone and electrical lines from Fletcher Avenue to Bearss Avenue. The actual construction began in late 2007. Redevelopment supporters hope private developers will build retail shops and offices, with apartments above them, along 22nd Street.

One such project, Eastchase, on the west side of 22nd Street near 140th Avenue, has been announced.

However, developer Vince Bekiempis, president of Property Services of America, is waiting until the road is completed to move forward. The combined-use project would have 16,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and about 50,000 square feet of residential space.

The project's second phase, which is in the final design stage, will be from Fletcher Avenue to University Mall, Valdez said.

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851.

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