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Monthly e-news for Westshore                 December 2008 JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL HOLIDAY LUNCHEON Join us for our December luncheon as we ring in the holidays and welcome a new year.  Our holiday luncheon will be on Tuesday, December 16 at the Quorum Hotel-Tampa, 700 N. West Shore Boulevard. We will be collecting gifts for underprivileged children at Roland Park K-8 Choice School.  Unwrapped toys for boys and girls ages 5-14 are appropriate.  Please help us make this holiday a little brighter for a child.

Registration and networking at 11:30; Lunch is from Noon to 1:15 p.m.  Cost is $30 for members; $35 for prospective members.  RSVP by noon on December 15.  Register on our EXPOSE BANNER PROGRAM RETURNS FOR 2009!  The fourth annual Expose banner program is coming to Westshore in Spring 2009.  A series of banners designed by local artists will be installed on light poles along major roads in Westshore including Kennedy and Boy Scout Boulevards.  You can support the program by becoming a banner sponsor.  This is a great way to promote your company to the thousands of motorists that travel the roads in Westshore everyday.  For more information, contact Ann Kulig at 813-289-5488 or email kulig@westshorealliance.org.  You can also download sponsorship information here.   We're pleased to announce our 2nd Signal Box Public Art Corporate Challenge!   We need your help to transform the traffic signal boxes (TSBs) in the Westshore district into works of art.  What is a TSB?  At every signalized traffic intersection in the Westshore district, there is a large metal box (approx. 4' x 3' x 2') which contains the manual controls for the traffic light. Your company can adopt a box, develop a design and paint the box.  Don't think you have artistic talent in house?   We can help you meet local artists that can design and paint the box for you.  For more details contact Ann Kulig at kulig@westshorealliance.org or 813-289-5488.
  WESTSHORE AREA NEWS & IMPROVEMENTS
The Himes Avenue entrance ramp to northbound I-275 will close for several months beginning on Monday, December 1, 2008.  Motorists will need to enter northbound I-275 from other interchanges, such as Dale Mabry Highway to the west or Howard Avenue, to the east.  The ramp is being closed to build a connection from the existing northbound I-275 lanes to the new alignment, which begins just east of Himes Avenue.  A new ramp will open from Himes Avenue to northbound I-275 when the new northbound section opens to traffic, currently anticipated by Spring 2009.    Rapid progress continues on the Tampa Airport Interchanges project.  If you travel in this area, please pay attention to the message signs highlighting the changes.  The following new ramps are scheduled to open by mid-December:  Eastbound State Road 60/southbound Memorial Highway exit to Spruce Street;  Eastbound S.R. 60/southbound Memorial to Cypress Street; and west end of Cypress Street to Spruce Street. For the most up-to-date information on closures and detours, visit http://www.mytbi.com/.     Digital billboards coming to Tampa…. The City of Tampa has negotiated proposed litigation settlements with the major outdoor advertising (billboard) companies that operate in the City of Tampa.  A key provision is an allowance for digital billboards in certain locations in the City.  In the current proposed settlement, digital billboards will not be allowed in the Westshore Commercial Overlay District.  The Alliance will continue to monitor the negotiations to determine how they will affect the aesthetics of our district.  City Council will be reviewing the settlements at a meeting on December 18 at 10:30 a.m. For more information about this issue, contact Ann Kulig at kulig@westshorealliance.org or call 813-289-5488.    Through our innovative partnership with the Tampa Police Department (TPD), the Westshore business district has seen double digit percentage decreases in crime each of the last three years.   You can help us keep the trend going!  Please do not leave holiday packages or valuables in plain view in your car.  Most of the crimes committed in the Westshore area are crimes of opportunity.   Thieves tend to look for easy targets – if you leave car doors unlocked or leave valuable items in plain view - you are more likely to be a victim of crime. Please be sure to keep your valuables "out of sight."  For more holiday safety tips, visit the TPD website. WESTSHORE DEVELOPMENT NEWS  
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