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Heading for higher ground? Start early
By JEAN HELLER © St. Petersburg Times, published September 25, 1998 With tens of thousands of vehicles heading north and east this morning as mandatory and voluntary evacuations begin, bottlenecks, breakdowns and accidents -- not to mention the sheer volume of traffic -- could leave a late exodus on the highways exposed to the elements during the worst of the storm. "People are thinking about the hurricane and getting their houses ready, and they're not paying enough attention to the roads and bridges," said Lt. Mike Guzman, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol. "The way out of a lot of places might not be available as the storm gets close." Unless Georges veers more sharply to the west, dramatically dropping the winds expected to hit Pinellas and Manatee counties, the closure of the Sunshine Skyway bridge could come early today. The approaches to the Courtney Campbell Parkway and the Howard Frankland and Gandy bridges tend to flood in severe weather. When that happens, the Highway Patrol and state Department of Transportation close them, though officials weren't predicting Thursday when those closures would come. Some places where Interstate 4 is under construction have flooded in heavy rains. And the number of vehicles expected to head north on Interstate 75 and Interstate 275 or east on I-4 could cause instant backups. Avoiding heavy traffic might be difficult, but highway officials suggest U.S. 19 as an alternative northbound escape route for some people, especially since most winter residents have not yet arrived, meaning fewer people on the road. Taking the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway east to I-75, then north to I-4 will carry motorists around Tampa traffic, at least. State Road 60 to the Florida Turnpike is an alternative to I-4 for those fleeing to the Orlando area. One note of caution: U.S. 19 is prone to flooding near Crystal River in Citrus County, according to Ron Anderson, district emergency manager for DOT, although generally only one lane closes. According to Anderson, at least one past problem has been addressed. "We have had flooding on part of I-4 through Plant City, where (concrete) barriers line the road so the pavement can't drain," he said. "We've deployed pumps to the area and removed some sections of the barriers, so with any luck we won't have the problem again." But it doesn't take the full force of a hurricane to close the passages across Tampa Bay. "When the winds reach tropical storm force (39 mph), the waves and the storm surge on top of a high tide will flood the approaches to the bridges," Anderson said. "Troopers and DOT personnel are stationed at either end, and when the flooding is severe enough, the bridges are closed." When Pinellas County's mandatory evacuation of coastal property kicks in at 6 a.m. today, the bridges linking the barrier islands will be blocked to north-south traffic. The drawbridge at John's Pass will be locked upright to give ships a route to safe harbor. The bridges linking the islands to mainland Pinellas County will carry only eastbound traffic, though Treasure Island fire Chief Charlie Fant said he does not know if all lanes will be devoted to eastbound traffic. For those looking for evacuation value, tolls will be lifted for the Sunshine Skyway and the Pinellas Bayway when the emergency evacuation order kicks in. In Hillsborough, however, where no emergency evacuation has been announced, tolls will continue on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, formerly called the Crosstown Expressway. And no, there is no chance that the bridges across the bay will go one-way. "We've been doing a regional evacuation plan for about a year, and one-way issues have come up," Anderson said. "All you do is move your bottleneck. You can back up a lot of cars on the bridges when the cars that have reached land have to merge back into their proper lanes."
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or those planning to ride out Hurricane Georges somewhere other than at home, official advice is: Get started early.
