Photo by Linda Saul-Sena
At Robles Park, there's fresh cement being poured to create a 14 foot high barrier on the east side of the street circling the park.
The 1960s were a tough time for this stable area as two huge pressures pushed it down. The Tampa Housing Authority (THA) purchased 60 acres and built 350 units of public housing and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) laid the route of I-275 immediately adjacent to the park.
Fast forward to 2024 and there's fresh cement being poured to create a 14 foot high barrier on the east side of the street circling the park. Trees which had previously protected this edge have been ripped out, and the neighbors are howling!
Lena Young Green, a petite, powerful voice for Tampa Heights has negotiated with FDOT for over two decades, protecting the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, located in the former Faith Temple Baptist Church, from the proposed expansion of I-275 and then creating the Tampa Heights Community Garden on the Interstate's west flank.
She has spoken truth to power and has so far succeeded in effectively protecting her neighborhood from the relentless push for more land to widen the Interstate's footprint, though the threat is omnipresent. Green spoke effectively in February at the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) meeting where she pushed the group to help her neighborhood get a dense vegetative barrier to protect Robles Park from the pollution and heat of the Interstate.
Green has lived in front of Robles Park for 42 years and observed, "The park has a lake that once had springs feeding into the body of water. Now it serves as a runoff collector for streets and the Interstate. We need trees along the east side to improve the water quality in the lake." She was supported in her comments by a variety of individuals and groups.
Chris Vela, a longtime advocate for Tampa Heights, recalled the "red-lining" of Tampa's poorer neighborhoods after World War II, when GI loans were only eligible in newer developments so our older neighborhoods suffered.
When the planning for the Interstate began, the idea was to place these highways through the heart of our minority areas, because the homes were cheaper to purchase and demolish. Vela called this insidious practice, "a clear case of structural racism" not limited to our community, but practiced nationwide.
Tampa Heights Civic Association President, Rick Fernandez, grew up one block from Robles Park and is old enough to fondly remember the pre-interstate version of his playground. He asked for a direct meeting with FDOT staff to discuss their mitigation plans and the green barrier (trees and heavy vegetation) concept. “That meeting is now set for February 27”, he said.
“But, for reasons I do not understand, we had to get the TPO Board’s OK before FDOT would meet with us. Everything with FDOT District 7 is a heavy lift. They act as if entitled to do whatever they want to our urban core neighborhoods, until people push back. We have been pushing back for years. FDOT is relentless. Pushing back can be exhausting but it is necessary for our health and safety that we be heard.”
The President of Tampa Garden Club, Paula Meckley, reminded the TPO Board members that since Robles Park is a park and needs to be protected with a dense layer of trees.
Years ago, I interviewed Donna Craig for a Creative Loafing article about the proposed expansion of the Interstate because her solid red brick home is immediately adjacent. Fast forward and there’s earth-moving equipment parked next to her front yard, as the 14 foot cement wall is being erected.
Craig observed, “There are two issues and two responses to the proximity of the Interstate. The wall will help block the cars from crashing into my yard and trash. Trees will address air pollution and better protect all the kids in the park. This is not an industrial park and FDOT is building an industrial wall…it’s a neighborhood. Once they took the original trees down, you could smell the pollution.”
Kitty Wallace is both the Tampa Heights Community Garden Coordinator as well as a past president of the Tampa Garden Club and she spoke encouragingly about the installation of a “Green Wall” as the best way to mitigate the effects of Interstate pollution.
Alex Whitaker, a USF grad student, said that she’d learned a great deal from conducting the Tree Canopy study for the City of Tampa. She cited a number of academic studies which measured heat and noise pollution being significantly reduced by the installation of a green barrier. Whitaker noted that “trees are particularly effective at absorbing high frequency noise.”
FDOT staff has not met directly with the neighborhood to listen to their concerns. The City of Tampa told CL it does not have jurisdiction over FDOT's interstate expansion and the trees it had to remove to make way for its infrastructure.
"Our commitment to protecting and growing Tampa's tree canopy remains a citywide priority. We are always looking for opportunities to grow our urban forest and we are working tirelessly to meet our goal of 30,000 new trees by 2030," the city added.
The landscaping plan shared by FDOT indicates no irrigation and a modest sprinkling of trees. They said that the landscape firm which gets the contract will be responsible for watering the trees and maintaining them for two years after installation. The City of Tampa will have to agree to maintenance after that.
Unfortunately, this issue is not isolated to Robles Park, but miles of Interstate highways and Expressways continue to be expanded adjacent to houses, parks and neighborhoods throughout Tampa Bay. It’s time to rethink how best to protect our citizens even as we pour more cement.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
