CLEARWATER — For years, officials have acknowledged the need for new way-finding signs to guide drivers to destinations along the transformed U.S. 19 corridor through Clearwater. Traffic patterns there have dramatically changed with the road's transition to an elevated, limited-access highway.
With the elimination of some traffic lights and turn lanes, it's not as simple as it used to be to get to some locations alongside U.S. 19. The stakes are high for businesses that have lost direct access to the busy road. They want to make sure that motorists can find them.
But now the years-long road construction project is nearing its end, and there are still no way-finding signs, and no plans for any in the immediate future. Some businesses are losing patience.
Take the Cypress Point Shopping Center, home to an upscale grocery store called The Fresh Market and several other large businesses such as a Burlington Coat Factory, a Rent-a-Center and a Chuck E. Cheese. The sprawling, red brick shopping plaza is on the east side of U.S. 19 just south of Enterprise Road.
The problem is, southbound traffic can no longer cross U.S. 19 at Enterprise, and northbound traffic no longer exits right at Enterprise. Since 2011, the shopping center's owners have been asking the city of Clearwater to allow the installation of way-finding signs pointing drivers in their direction. They have even drawn up examples of what these signs might look like.
"We're frustrated because we've been spoon-feeding the city information and we have experienced consistent delays," said Ed Eickhoff, a vice president with Ramco-Gershenson, a nationwide real estate investment trust that owns Cypress Point. "Once you get off the road, there's no indication of what you're supposed to do if you're trying to find our shopping center."
Clearwater officials say they're working on this issue, but there's not a simple, quick solution.
City Council member Doreen Hock-DiPolito is among those pushing for the city to move faster.
"If there's any way that we can try to move this along a little quicker than it has been," she said at a recent council meeting. "I'll remind you that 2011 is when they started this process."
In 2012, Clearwater adopted a plan to steer the future of the U.S. 19 business corridor. That plan called for new way-finding signs to guide people to various destinations along 8 miles of the highway, from Belleair to Curlew roads.
Now it's 2015, and there are no signs. Why not? Blame bureaucratic delays and the complexity of the job.
Clearwater officials say they've been waiting for Pinellas County to finish making changes to its countywide development codes. Those rules determine what can be built and where. They're being updated to reflect the altered landscape along U.S. 19 through Clearwater.
From now on, shops and restaurants on the road are to be centered at retail hubs at major crossroads. Between those hubs, flexible zoning laws will allow the construction of mid-rise office buildings and housing complexes, replacing some strip malls that are no longer a good fit for their location.
Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines
Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsClearwater is finally moving forward on a plan for way-finding signs, even though the new countywide rules aren't finished yet. The city will hire a consultant this summer to help it decide what these signs will look like, what kind of locations they can identify, and where exactly they will go.
"This is not a simple task at all. It's very unique," Assistant City Manager Jill Silverboard said. "It's not something that we expect we'll necessarily be doing again, because of the uniqueness of the corridor."
The project will require careful consideration and public input, she added.
Mayor George Cretekos said the city will seek to include way-finding signs in its budget for the next fiscal year, which starts in October.
For its part, the Cypress Point Shopping Center is tired of waiting. The Fresh Market, which is competing with a newer Whole Foods Market in nearby Westfield Countryside mall, was reportedly on a month-to-month lease in the shopping center, although the center's owners say the grocery store recently signed a short-term lease extension as officials try to resolve the sign issue.
Permanent residents and even part-time residents like snowbirds can likely find the Fresh Market, but tourists will have a harder time, Eickhoff said.
"The true upside in retail centers are those visitors," Eickhoff said. "Those people are not going to find their way around as easily as someone who lives here year-round."
Contact Mike Brassfield at brassfield@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4151. Follow @MikeBrassfield.