By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Things are getting a bit messy and testy in Riverview, thanks to construction at and near the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 at Boyette Road as it turns into Gibsonton Drive.
Motorists seeking to cross U.S. Highway 301 from Boyette Road are in view of 11 “Road Closed” construction signs, put in place by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials, for an intersection improvement project that includes replacing asphalt pavement with a durable concrete surface.
The road section closed at 11:59 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28, and is expected to remain closed for 21 days, weather permitting. The closing blocks a heavily traveled route for access to the I-75 interchange before moving further west to U.S. Highway 41, passing on the way AMC Riverview 14, New East Bay Road, Walmart and Gibsonton Elementary School.
Overall, the $1.24 million state project includes as well repaving U.S. Highway 301 from Whitt Road to Rivercrest Drive. FDOT officials say the intersection work will be done in phases and will take approximately 140 days to complete.
The first phase, which launched within a minute of midnight on March 1, aims to reduce travel through the intersection from both the northbound and southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 301. Completely closed is the section of Gibsonton Drive headed west toward I-75.
During the expected 21-day closure, motorists have been told to detour around the work zone using Riverview Drive, U.S. Highway 41 and Symmes Road. To the east of the construction site, detour routes are Rhodine, Balm Riverview, McMullen and Boyette roads.
With the intersection closed, motorists wishing to use the still-open interstate ramps at I-75 and Gibsonton Drive are instructed to use as alternate roads Big Bend Road and U.S. Highway 301.
In what has become a glaring reality to motorists who travel these alternate routes in an era of burgeoning and unabated growth, FDOT officials acknowledge the expectation of “significant traffic delays and congestion on all nearby roads.”
Adding to the stress is a county project that involves intersection improvements at U.S. Highway 301 and Riverview Drive, just north of the state’s Gibsonton/Boyette road intersection project.
The $2.3 million county project, projected to finish late this year, is to widen the westbound intersection approach to accommodate the addition of a left-turn lane and to convert the existing shared through/left-turn lane into a shared through/right-turn lane.
The county project further includes a directional median opening accommodating westbound left-turn movement on Riverview Drive. For pedestrians, sidewalks will be added or replaced, including ramps, curbs and pavement markings for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Public comments to a county online survey attest to the need for the improvements as well as support for the plan overall. Suggestions have been offered, including for traffic light timing and synching.
“I hate being the car going straight from Riverview Drive and blocking all the people who want to go south on [U.S. Highway] 301,” wrote one respondent. “They used to cut through the parking lot behind the sandwich shop, but that’s even blocked now, too, thankfully. This intersection needs a fix sooner rather than later.”
Overall, respondents welcome the “long needed” attention to south-east Hillsborough County traffic needs, calling the county project a “solid,” “acceptable” and “good plan.”
“Traffic just starts to squeeze and squeeze all the way from 301 and 41 and the Crosstown south, as far south as each will take someone to drive it,” said one respondent, who used the word “scary” to describe the situation. “This intersection [improvement project] is an amazing start, but also the volume [of traffic] must be addressed.”
In the camp of too little too late are respondents who addressed the area’s unabated growth.
“The overall issue we deal with is that fact that there are not many bridges going over the [Alafia] River to allow for more ways to travel north and south, in and out of Riverview,” one respondent said. “This problem, coupled with overwhelming growth this area has experienced, is the underlying issue affecting all travel, at all times of the day.”
Another respondent, who called the current action “a Band-Aid on a much bigger issue,” noted there are “only three existing exits from I-75 into a massively developed area from Gibsonton to Sun City Center,” which, in turn, “causes congestion in every other road into these areas.”
In tune with that distress is a respondent who lamented the almost one-month closing of Gibsonton Drive at its intersection with U.S. Highway 301. Navigating unrelenting traffic and construction at the same time, the respondent said, “sounds like a complete nightmare for those of us who have no alternative but to use Riverview Drive.”