Residents complain about roads near Tampa
Staff reporter
A Tampa business owner and residents complained Monday to Marion County Commission regarding two county roads that connect with Tampa.
Chris Costello of Tampa State Bank, said he was concerned about the condition of Limestone and 330th and wanted to raise awareness to the commission of the condition of the roads.
"These roads have terrible potholes," Costello said. He said the roads were overlaid a few years ago but were not holding up.
Signatures of 150 people were presented on a petition to improve the roads.
Holes in the road were filled with rock, Costello said, but that is not the solution.
"These roads were overlaid the same time as the Durham-Lincolnville (290th) road," Costello said, "but they're deteriorating much faster."
Tom Duggan said these were not typical potholes.
"Deterioration is clear across the road," Duggan said. "A driver can't dodge the holes. Fortunately there haven't been any accidents but there have been near-misses."
Carole Spohn, president of Tampa Community Association, said she was concerned about the quality of the work when the road was overlaid.
"We know the asphalt was laid when the temperature was below freezing," Spohn said.
Commissioner Howard Collett said he was not on the commission but recalls the work being completed about four years ago. He added the engineer should have inspected it at the time.
Costello asked, what is the life expectancy of asphalt, overlaid roads? Commissioner Bob Hein responded about five years. He added Indigo Road held up for five years before being resurfaced this fall.
Commission chairman Leroy Wetta stated semi-tractor trailer traffic was contributing to the deterioration of the road and wondered if there was more damage on the east side of the road than the west. He said he was not aware there was damage over the entire roadway.
"Heavy traffic going to the elevator may be causing the damage," Wetta said. "I'm not sure if the road can withstand the weight. The road is too narrow to start with." He asked if the base was strong enough.
Costello said since the county is aware of the elevator traffic, why not plan a more suitable road to manage the heavier traffic to the elevator.
Collett said it was obvious the base is gone and it's going to take rebuilding the road.
Acting county road and bridge superintendent Jim Herzet said he thinks the road has deteriorated because it was rebuilt in the fall and overlaid the following spring, not allowing adequate time to have a solid base.
Herzet said patching will be done on a regular basis during the winter months.
Gary Spohn said a road east of Tampa was rebuilt and rocked for 20 years and it didn't help it to have a solid base.
Herzet said ground-up asphalt was used for the overlays. Wetta added magnesium chloride was added to the mixture to provide a stronger road. Collett said he didn't think it was helping.
Jim Clemmer, mayor of Tampa, commented when Tampa overlaid their streets, fly ash was used and it worked well.
Wetta said an asphalt overlay costs $50,000 per mile. Chip and seal costs $8,000 to $10,000 per mile.
"There's no point in putting money in a road if the base is gone," Wetta said.
"We want something done," Costello said, "but we want our tax money well-spent."
