There are 3 major interstates entering Tampa from all directions - Interstate 4, to Orlando and the east coast of Florida, starts here, interstate 75 bypasses the city’s east side and interstate 275, a loop of sorts entering the outskirts of north Tampa, traveling to the famed "Malfunction Junction" at downtown and exiting into St. Petersburg, Florida to the south. Millions of dollars of road construction takes place in this area, almost year round. This unlimited supply of cash is used for traffic signs, road widening and… a useless fountain. Nothing says "Welcome to Tampa" like a fountain you can’t see or, due to poor planning and budgeting, may not ever see.
When traveling into Tampa on our interstate system, you will see "city limit" signs - for political boundary purposes - but no "welcome to" signs. The airport doesn’t count. Four years ago, a contract was awarded to build a fountain 1-mile east of Malfunction Junction below interstate 4, at 21st/22nd Street. Below interstate 4 as in "you really can’t see it from interstate 4". You have to take the Ybor City exit (exit 1) and circle around the thing to get a look at it. An 8-foot iron fence is intended to keep people away from it. After all, the state Department of Transportation paid $1.3-million for the installation. Florida has a boatload of cash sitting somewhere for stuff like this. Ownership and maintenance was turned over to the City of Tampa - and for good reason, too: The city has a boatload of cash to maintain this attraction… $3,000 to $5,000 per month. The city also has water restrictions in place, due to drought conditions, barring water fountains that don’t use reclaimed water. The cool part? Reclaimed water doesn’t flow into this part of the city. Duh.
I guess they had to do *something* to fill the football field size space created when they widened interstate 4. Anyone who has been to Ybor City knows parking is plentiful. Turning this space into a parking lot would create more pedestrian traffic, creating a major hazard due to the speeding traffic into and out of Ybor. A park here would be interesting, with it’s beautiful views of the overpasses of eastbound and westbound interstate 4, not to mention the quiet and serene feeling you would get as traffic speeds overhead, or the loud boom boxes of punks driving in and out of Ybor City.
The Tampa Water Department is now deciding what to do with this asset. City officials and departments are experiencing budget cuts and layoffs. Can the city, or WILL the city, afford the estimated $60,000/year for the upkeep of the fountain?
I intended to include photos of the decorative, useless, fountain. To see the fountain as most people would, if they could see it - overhead from interstate 4. Several things came to mind, though. Stopping on the interstate is illegal and dangerous. Doing so would cause everyone else to stop creating a major traffic jam. Actually, you could have a flat tire 4-blocks away from the interstate, on a side road, and people ON the interstate will stop to look…but that’s another article. Sorry, I do not have photos at this time.
Among the things Tampa could have really USED: How about a few "Welcome to Tampa" signs? Tampa only welcomes people who arrive by air? Driving westbound on Interstate 4 into Malfunction Junction, the merge onto Interstate 275 southbound, is a SHARP curve. A few months ago, a tractor trailer rig overturned going into this curve and dumped its load on to the interstate. Even though this intersection is well-lit, you really don’t know it’s a sharp turn until you are well in to the curve. In most other cities, such hazards are clearly marked with caution signs. Not Tampa! Tampa, and the Department of Transportation, *needed* the fountain. Well, they needed to spend $1.3-million on SOMETHING.
It’s a shame that during the "meeting of the minds", officials meet but forget to bring their "minds".