Daily Archive for November 13th, 2009

Letter to Neighborhood Association Presidents

Published on November 13, 2009 in Letter to Neighborhood Association Presidents. 0 Comments

Elevated reality

Dear Neighborhood Association President,

My name is Mikael,  a business owner in South Tampa located on Gandy Blvd. I am calling upon you to please help your local merchants and residents around South Tampa to preserve our community . Savegandy is a alliance built up of everyday South Tampa residents and business owners trying to stop THEA (generates it’s revenue from tolls), building a concrete elevated toll road on top of Gandy blvd.

The tax payers of Florida just spent 22 million dollars for the beautification on Gandy, and we feel the sole purpose was to lay the foundation for this organization, at our expense. The toll road could never been thought of, until we the taxpayers widened the road. Since we paid for it, we would like the opportunity to see our neighborhood enjoy the new roadway before any further construction process.
Did you also know that THEA (The Hillsbrough County Expressway Authority) will make a decision and said they do not need our voice to decide on this project.They have said they will do it without our vote.
We feel it is every citizens right to have their voice heard I am sure you will agree, so we have developed www.savegandy.com for the voice of the people.

This web site is to educate the public of the pros and cons, and give them the opportunity to sign a petition and so their voice can be heard  and let government know we still have rights in our communities.

Please, I am asking you to please forward this to all association members so we can educate them about the project. Without the knowledge and help from our neighbors, the concrete toll will plow into our neighborhood. Please help us get the word out so people can see what is going on and have the opportunity to be a voice for their community. We would do the same for you and thank you for your time.

Thank You,

Mikael

Please don’t support the ruin of our neighborhood for such a minuscule reason

Published on November 13, 2009 in Elevated Gandy will not alleviate traffic and Letter to Mr. Ray Chiaramonte, MPO Executive Director. 0 Comments

Gandy Friendship Trail BridgeRemember the much loved Gandy Friendship Trail bridge, which may never re-open, but at least we gained a worthy contender as a consolation prize, yes a shiny new overhead toll bridge, permanently blocking out the sun. A vast improvement, we the community, think not!.

Bill/Tampa

I close on my house this Monday, a house I plan on living in for years to come. It is two blocks north of Gandy. I pray that I do not have to look at a VERY UNWANTED overhead concrete structure running right down the middle of my neighborhood’s main street. How sad that my neighborhood stands to be seriously degraded so an overdeveloped, overpopulated peninsula (Pinellas County) can have a little bit better evacuation system to accommodate people who wait until the last minute to leave their homes. This is the only merit that this overpass has, and to us residents it is not enough. If we are willing to accept rush hour congestion over a super unattractive overhead structure, why not give us what we want? There is no doubt there will still be bad rush hour traffic even if the proposed project is constructed, and it is shameful to think we will sit in that traffic and be in the shadow of a sparsely used overhead road that is only needed for a couple of hours each business day and maybe once every ten years for possible tropical storm/hurricane evacuation.

Please don’t support the ruin of our neighborhood for such a minuscule reason. Think about our quality of life and what makes us happier people. This is what you, as our community leaders, should want for us. If this project was truly needed we would be asking for it and THEA would have been able to easily sell it. But it is not needed and may never be needed which is why we reject it.

Don’t discount the number of people who have signed the petition to stop this project.

Bill
PS - All due respect to Ray Chiaramonte, he sounded like a desperate salesman when he was telling me how nice it will look. We all know that is just hogwash.
Follow-up response to Ray Chairmonte, Executive Director, Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization

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