Hillsborough asking community how truck routes can be improved with online survey
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - As Hillsborough County grows in development and traffic, Plan Hillsborough wants to find out where to spend money to improve roads, starting with trucking routes.
"We are updating the Hillsborough County trucking route plan for the first time since 2005," said Wade Reynolds, the executive planner at Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization. "Driving around downtown, a lot of what used to be warehouses or industrial operations is now Channelside and Water Street, so that’s one big change. Then as you go down towards Wimauma, Sun City Center, Big Bend Road, you can see that there has been a great deal of development."
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Residents have a say in what changes will be made to the roads through an online survey from Plan Hillsborough available through the end of July. It asks about your priorities, where you have issues, and what you’d like to see for solutions.
The trucking industry keeps lives moving by transporting goods and supplies, and drivers share the road with truckers. But it isn’t always smooth cruising.
Plan Hillsborough's survey will be available until the end of July.
"I lost two windshields," said driver Roberto Ramirez about debris falling off semi-trucks. "Sometimes it’s so hard. They’re driving faster. I think it’s better they put better regulations for huge trucks, but everyone has the right to use the roadways."
Plan Hillsborough wants to hear those concerns and more as part of the survey. Residents can be general or get specific, highlighting torn up roads, safety concerns or noise.
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"We have to wait until we see a problem through crashes for it to show up in our data. But if people can provide us that information before something happens, it can help us head off some of those issues," said Reynolds.
They are also getting feedback from stakeholders in the trucking industry, the city and the county, Reynolds shared.
Plan Hillsborough is trying to figure out where to spend money to improve roads.
"I think the areas accessing the ports are big ones and areas accessing the new distribution centers and existing distribution centers," said Reynolds. "Even in addition to truck routes, trucks have to get to and from those truck routes when they’re making that first or last mile for delivery, so all of those are important aspects."
After the survey ends, transportation planners will bring that data to the transportation planning board towards the end of the year and see where county money can go to fix those problems.
"We’re also as a part of this doing a needs-assessment for our 2050 long-range transportation plan, looking out at what sort of future growth and future improvements we may need related to freight and good movement," explained Reynolds.