Here’s why Hillsborough should look hard at extending the Selmon Expressway | Editorial

Extending the Selmon. We’ve said it a million times and will say it again: Tampa Bay needs a robust mass transit system for the region to grow and maintain its quality of life. But we need roads, too, which is why Hillsborough County commissioners got it right this week in expressing bipartisan interest to extend the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously authorized two additional studies on the proposed toll road and asked the county’s Transportation Planning Organization to add the $1.8 billion project to the long-range transportation plan through 2050. The proposal calls for extending the expressway 10 miles from its eastern end in Brandon to Big Bend Road in Riverview, in what’s envisioned as a four-lane, elevated toll road in the existing median of U.S. 301. Early estimates suggest an extension could shave 30 minutes off the afternoon drive from downtown Tampa to Gibsonton Drive. This alone, of course, is not a panacea for fast-growing southern Hillsborough; residents there need a full complement of express bus service to downtown and other hotspots and more circular routes in their own communities. But an expanded Selmon could reduce commute times and promote mass transit alike. Getting a jump on this study makes sense.

Profiles in courage. The Florida Supreme Court wins the Oscar for best supporting actor for helping Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis avoid another embarrassing legal defeat. This week, the court rejected a request by suspended Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren to be reinstated. DeSantis suspended Warren, a twice-elected Democrat, from office last year alleging neglect of duty, a charge a federal judge dismissed as false and found violated both the Florida and U.S. constitutions. In its ruling, Florida’s high court took pot shots at the federal judge, and faulted Warren for an “unreasonable delay” in bringing his case. “More than six months after his suspension, (Warren) finally knocked on this Court’s door,” Justice Charles Canady wrote for the majority. This is the same Justice Canady who took three times as long — 18 months — to issue the court’s order invalidating Hillsborough’s 2018 transportation tax. And was Canady — a former Democratic-turned Republican state legislator and member of Congress — serious in writing there was “no reason to doubt” that Warren’s suspension would be fairly adjudicated by the Republican-controlled Florida Senate? Sometimes the people in Tallahassee cannot hear themselves.

Skyway space invasion? Commuters crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge may have noticed those alien-looking rows of concrete pyramids piled up near the roadway. The structures, which range from 8-to-10 feet tall, are called wave attenuation devices, and the Florida Department of Transportation will be installing 844 of them in the coming months to help slow coastal erosion. The pyramids will be placed in the water, partially submerged, about 200 feet from the shoreline. Weighing up to 14,000 pounds, the structures, which are pockmarked with triangular and hexagonal holes, will deflect and reduce wave energy in the environs around Interstate 275 and the Skyway fishing pier. Over time, the structures will allow small marine life to pass through, provide shelter for fish habitats and foster an expansion of seagrass. This all means healthier water quality and a healthier bay, with more marine life and diversity and a more stable seabed. We’re glad this project is getting off the ground — and it looks pretty cool, to boot.

Hillsborough schools’ diet. The Hillsborough County School Board confronted reality this week by following through on its plan to close five more schools. Coming just weeks after the board closed half-empty Just Elementary School, the plan represents the school district’s first serious attempt in memory to right-size its 217 campuses. This progress, though, comes with an asterisk; the closures passed with only a slim 4-3 board majority, and several of the schools could resurface later in new incarnations. Superintendent Addison Davis, who led this overdue effort, is leaving, having resigned effective July 14. And several board members are interested in revisiting this decision, either by holding onto the school campuses or by holding off on making any final decisions on how these properties are reused. If anything, the Hillsborough school district needs to get more aggressive about consolidating schools, given the vacancies, the district’s budget challenges and the increasing threat to traditional classrooms from privately-operated charter schools.

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