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Hudson Wal-Mart Traffic Problem Seen

Carl Orth/SUNCOAST NEWS

The slope is way too steep on a driveway that Hudson Wal-Mart crews installed to give access to Bobkatz Bar and Grill, bar owners Ed Beck, in white shirt, and Pete White say. County officials say the driveway is unacceptable.

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: November 14, 2007

Updated: 11/14/2007 03:40 pm

HUDSON, Fla. - HUDSON, Fla. - An emergency meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow morning about traffic flow problems at the Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction on U.S. 19 north of S.R. 52.

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano hurriedly helped set up the Thursday conference about an extremely steep driveway built by Wal-Mart crews to provide access to the neighboring Bobkatz Bar and Grill, at 12536 U.S. 19.

"That would be an expert slope if you were going to ski down it," Mariano said Wednesday morning. The commissioner recently inspected the driveway access.

"You couldn't get up it with a Hummer," the owner of Bobkatz, Pete White, said about the steeply sloped access. The driveway rises at an angle of about 40 degrees, White estimated.

Bipin Parikh, assistant county administrator for development services, and James Widman, director of engineering services, toured the site and concur with his assessment, Mariano said.

"As it's set up now, it won't work," Mariano said of the access driveway.

In addition to posing a driving challenge, the steep driveway could create storm-water drainage problems, according to Mariano.

So county, Wal-Mart and Florida Department of Transportation officials are scheduled to sit down tomorrow to figure out what went wrong with plans, Mariano said.

"We are working with the County, FDOT and the property owner to find a solution that works for Bobkatz Bar and Grill and for Wal-Mart," said Quenta Vettel, Wal-Mart's senior manager of public affairs over Central Florida.

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