TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The city of Tampa said it is making headway when it comes to resurfacing the city’s roads.
Leaders said they have almost doubled the amount of work done compared to historic averages.
Some of the areas they have recently repaved include Ybor City, Port Tampa, and Tampa Palms.
The rough conditions of the roads are something neighbors speak out about often.
“We have dealt with potholes and filling potholes,” said a resident during Monday morning’s announcement.
The city said it is improving in that area, but one speed bump was that it had to rework the budget after the Hillsborough County Transportation Sales Tax was rejected a few years ago.
“So, when we lost that, we don’t give up, so we went back to the drawing board, and we decided to hire our own paving teams,” said Mayor Jane Castor.
With the city’s own equipment and extra personnel, crews are almost doubling the amount of work being done.
“This past year, we’ve paved over 70 miles. Our average, historically, has been about 40 miles,” Castor said.
“At this point this year, we are at 14 miles. The neighborhood around us and behind us right now that we are performing our resurfacing on right now is an additional 5,” said Brandon Campbell, the Mobility Director for the city.
Drivers did share some concerns about not receiving alerts of work being done from the city.
“What’s the communication plan for the community? Because we were not aware and we just came home and were like oh, we can’t get into the neighborhood,” shared a resident.
The city said it will start using Alert Tampa to let residents know when crews will be coming to their area.
“Every neighborhood is being touched, and eventually, in the next few years, I know we are not where we are supposed to be. We haven’t hit all the roads we were supposed to hit, but we’re working in that direction,” said Tampa City Council Chair Alan Clendenin.
In the last few years, the paving budget has also gone from around $14 million to $41 million.
“There are many roads in the city that still need resurfacing; we prioritize those based on the condition and the area that they are in. We start with the worst and work our way up,” Campbell said.
Crews will be working every day to try to reach all of the neighborhoods.
“If we haven’t made it to your neighborhood yet, we’re on our way,” Clendenin said.
The city’s goal is to exceed last year’s record, which was 76 lane miles.
According to the city, “a lane mile is one mile of a single traffic lane. So, a one-mile road with two lanes equals two lane miles.”
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