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City Assesses Bayshore Repairs

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By MICHAEL H. SAMUELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2007

BAYSHORE - The city is planning a two-pronged approach to smooth the bumps on Bayshore Boulevard and make the road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Officials are determining the best way to repair gaps between the road's concrete slabs. A proposal to use an epoxy was nixed because of concerns it would make the road slick, officials said.

"You would think you could just grind the concrete down," said Steve Daignault, the city's administrator of public works and utility services. "But you can't because that might expose the steel. Once you do that, water starts rusting it. And when water begins to run through the whole thing, it will break the whole slab."

There are 2,280 concrete slabs along Bayshore between Rome Avenue and Platt Street, city deputy public works director Tony Rodriguez told the council Nov. 1. Working with a consultant, the city and county found 760 locations with faults.

Of those, Rodriguez said, 142 were "measurable," including 10 spots with gaps of more than 1¼ inches.

Bayshore is a county road that the city typically maintains. Because of the project's magnitude, the county is taking the lead, Rodriguez said.

County pavement manager Roger Cox told the council that officials should know by mid-December how the work will be done and how much it should cost.

There are an average of 27,696 daily trips on that stretch of Bayshore, which is six lanes between Rome and Swann Avenue and four lanes between Swann to Platt.

"Bayshore is an incredibly important road," Cox said.

He expects the concrete slabs to be at least 1 foot thick, but said he won't know for sure until workers drill to determine the thickness and the location of the steel rods.

"There could be issues we don't know about," Cox said. "We are taking a lot of care with this road. Roads this age are not taken lightly."

Bayshore originally was constructed of concrete, said Cox, who doesn't know when the remainder of the road was paved with asphalt.

The city council asked Cox to present a written update Dec. 20.

The council last week approved spending $2.7 million, including a $2.4 million state grant, to widen the Bayshore medians north of Howard Avenue, add northbound left-turn lanes and restripe the road to four lanes with bicycle paths.

The city will add a bicycle lane along the entire stretch of southbound Bayshore and extend the northbound lane north of the Davis Islands Bridge.

Daignault said the project is in the design phase and a construction schedule has not been set.

Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813) 835-2109 or msamuels@tampatrib.com.

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