When it floods in South Tampa, I’m near ground zero. I can see Hillsborough Bay, but not necessarily Bayshore Boulevard. It happens that quickly–and that often.
And, while nobody likes advocating for higher taxes, I can also see where the case for stormwater fee hikes–unchanged ($3 monthly) for a decade–has never made more sense. That most recent flooding made fortuitous timing. Optics matter in making the case that infrastructure, while not sexy, is about public safety, health and quality of life.
No, fee hikes–and ultimately wider underground pipes and additional pumping stations–won’t be a panacea for the geography-challenged Bayshore. The residential areas abutting it were built on swamps and creek beds. But it can mitigate matters there–and noticeably improve it elsewhere over time.
But time, of course, is never an ally. Tampa’s stormwater division has some $250 million in unfunded projects to tackle and unhiked stormwater fees needlessly prolong the serious addressing of the chronic problem.
The rest is up to drivers.
From my ground-zero perspective, I can see that the Bayshore issue is more than low elevations, high tides, Florida rains, a seawall balustrade that is more aesthetic than protective and easily over-capacitated sewers.
When it rains–it also pours idiocy. This is a taxing problem that doesn’t require fee hikes. What is it about an obviously flooded Bayshore Boulevard that remains a magnet for motorists, most of whom don’t change their driving M.O. just because they’ve entered an ad hoc, no-wake zone? Driverless cars would be an improvement.
Here’s some unsolicited advice: Even if you’re driving a pick-up with tires fit for a RayJay monster truck rally, don’t be an idiot. You and your vehicle impact others–as well as the median landscapes. Either drive really, REALLY slowly on Bayshore or turn off, go down, say, Swann and continue on where there’s less need to be wake-zone conscious. It’s not that hard, and there’s plenty of practice time.