A long-awaited road project expected to improve Tampa Fire Rescue’s response times in New Tampa is on track to open by the middle of September.
TAMPA, Fla. — A long-awaited road project expected to improve Tampa Fire Rescue’s response times in New Tampa is on track to open by the middle of September — a milestone city officials say could play a key role in determining whether additional emergency resources are needed in the growing area.
During Thursday’s Tampa City Council meeting, Heidt Design project engineer Boyan Pargov said the Morris Bridge Road/K-Bar Ranch cut-through remains on schedule despite years of planning and construction.
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“This has been a project that has been in the works for a long time,” Pargov told council members.
He later added, “I’m confident that the August-September timeframe I mentioned now is the correct timeframe for this project being accepted.”
The roadway is expected to provide a more direct connection into K-Bar Ranch and surrounding neighborhoods, where emergency response times have drawn scrutiny from city leaders and the firefighters union.
In a memorandum released before Thursday’s meeting, Tampa Fire Chief Barbara Tripp said she does not believe additional changes to fire rescue deployment should be made until the city can evaluate response times after the new roadway opens.
Tripp wrote that the department also wants to collect several months of data from its newly installed computer-aided dispatch system before determining whether current staffing and apparatus assignments adequately serve New Tampa.
“When you’re talking about response time, we know it’s a problem up there,” Tripp said during a May City Council meeting. “When are we going to look at what’s needed and understand what this administration has put into service?”
She also argued that resources should be placed where they are most needed.
“It’s not so much fire stations, it’s where the heat is,” Tripp said. “Wherever the heat is is where we need to put those vehicles.”
While the chief says better data is needed before making additional decisions, some council members say they don’t want to wait any longer than necessary to improve response times.
Councilman Luis Viera questioned whether firefighters and paramedics could begin using the Morris Bridge Road cut-through before it officially opens to the public.
Pargov said the answer is not immediately because crews still must complete a water main connection where the roadway comes together. That work is expected to temporarily block the route.
However, he said opening the roadway to emergency vehicles before public traffic is a possibility once that final construction is complete.
“I think there is a possibility to look at opening up for emergency vehicles prior to being accessible to the public,” Pargov said.
Viera emphasized the importance of getting first responders onto the roadway as soon as safely possible.
“If we can open it beforehand just for first responders, that is the win,” Viera said. “We will be inquiring on that because this is of critical importance.”
Calling the project “a big freaking deal,” Viera said the new connection is expected to significantly reduce emergency response times into K-Bar Ranch and nearby neighborhoods, where four of Tampa’s five slowest fire response results were located.
He has now asked city staff to return to next week’s city council meeting with an update on whether the roadway can safely be opened to first responders before it opens to the public, and if so, when that could happen.