 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Weather delays SR 56 again
By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- Central Pasco County residents frustrated by long morning commutes to Tampa could have to wait another three months for the opening of State Road 56. Archer Western Contractors Ltd. told the state Department of Transportation that low temperatures have delayed applications of a final coat of asphalt on the 3-mile highway between Cypress Creek, Interstate 75 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The new tentative completion date is April, instead of the previously scheduled February, DOT spokeswoman Marian Pscion said. Construction began on the $35-million highway, which will run between four and six lanes, in June 1999. "April is not firm either," Pscion said. ". . . If we get warm days and the contractor can finish up in February, we may be able to open it earlier." This is the second weather-related delay on SR 56. Archer Western complained that rain-soaked dirt postponed work last summer, delaying opening day from November to February. Pscion attributed other problems directly to the contractor, including a flawed concrete bridge deck over I-75 that needed to be repoured. On Jan. 2, when the contractor exhausted the extra days alloted to cushion it against unforeseen troubles, the DOT started fining Archer Western $10,252.71 per day. The delay is sour news for central Pasco County residents eager to use SR 56 to shave up to 10 miles from trips to Tampa and points south. Residents in Wesley Chapel neighborhoods such as Meadow Pointe typically use Bruce B. Downs to reach the I-75 exit in New Tampa or to get to Interstate 275. During rush hour the 5-mile trip to the I-75 interchange can take 45 minutes. Joan Abrams, who lives in Meadow Pointe and sits on its community council, has resorted to driving north to get on the interstate from State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel. That route's about 8 miles farther, but ends up taking less time. "State Road 56 was hopefully going to be our salvation getting on the interstate," Abrams said. Work delays plagued Archer Western in another contract with the DOT. The Fort Lauderdale company fell 200 days behind schedule while working from 1995 to 2000 on the Hillsborough Avenue Bridge project in Tampa. Although Archer wasn't assessed daily fines, the delays represented a black mark when it came to evaluating the company, Pscion said. As for the latest postponement, Pscion blamed temperatures that have stayed below the 65 degrees necessary for successfully laying asphalt. The DOT can't close I-75 during the day, and temperatures at night are too low to pave the I-75/SR 56 interchange, a critical part of the project, she said. But residents such as Abrams are growing tired of adjusting their schedules to the DOT and its contractors. "I guess the government works slowly," she said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
