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Drivers cruise across county on a new commute route
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN Fewer lights, less traffic, less stress. What more could a cross-county commuter ask for? Maybe less time. Surprisingly, a midday drive Thursday on the new east-west corridor in mid Pinellas wasn't much faster than two other options, but, hey, it was a lot nicer cruise. And the commute on County Road 296 most likely is a bit speedier during rush hour than congested Ulmerton Road and busy Park Boulevard. Now that Bryan Dairy Road's missing link is open -- 2 miles of pavement free of traffic lights from 66th Street to U.S. 19, including an overpass over 66th Street -- commuters have another straight shot across the center of the peninsula. Depending on the direction they're traveling, they no longer come to a dead end at 66th Street or U.S. 19. And that makes Joy Perkins happy. "It's nice," she said. "You don't have as many lights, and in the early morning there is virtually nobody on it. It beats Ulmerton. That's for sure." The route connects 102nd Avenue N, Bryan Dairy Road and 118th Avenue N, giving residents of Seminole, Pinellas Park, Largo and other communities a direct route from the Intracoastal Waterway to U.S. 19 and Interstate 275, the county's major north-south routes. It's about a 10-mile drive from one end of the road to the other. Most of the route is six lanes, and there are only a couple of traffic signals from U.S. 19 to I-275. The speed limit varies from 35 to 45 mph. Before the missing link opened earlier this month, Bryan Dairy ended at 66th Street, forcing motorists to head north to Ulmerton or south to Park to continue driving east. "One of the things you're going to find is there is going to be a drop in traffic on Park and Ulmerton," said Brian Smith, the county's planning director. Perkins lives in the Bardmoor community near Starkey Road, but she works on the other side of the county at Home Shopping Network. Before the extension opened, Perkins chose to wiggle through a neighborhood to get to U.S. 19 to get to 118th Avenue. She took that route for almost a year. "Now my 25-minute drive is less than 15 minutes," said Perkins, a senior vice president of operations for HSN. "I make two turns and I'm at work." Smith said the opening of the new road between 66th Street and U.S. 19 completes another piece of the puzzle for CR 296. "This is one of those things that just makes the things we already have in place work, especially when you can close a gap like that," he said. Other pieces of the puzzle included improving 118th Avenue -- the stretch east of U.S. 19 -- and building a bridge over Lake Seminole, which connects 102nd Avenue with Bryan Dairy Road. And more improvements on the corridor are coming. In 2007, the county plans to build an overpass over U.S. 19 and widen the west end of the road. Perhaps one of the reasons the road is less congested than its two counterparts is because there aren't many reasons to be on it unless you live or work near it. The west end is residential, the center section has corporate business parks and the east side is mostly light commercial and wholesale businesses. No fast-food joints, no stores, no movie theaters. Traffic may pick up on the road once all the interchanges to I-275 open. For now, only one ramp is open -- the one that funnels traffic from 118th Avenue to southbound I-275. The ramps that will move traffic from 118th Avenue to northbound I-275 and from southbound I-275 to 118th Avenue are scheduled to open the middle to later part of next year. Until then, motorists can use the Roosevelt Boulevard interchange. The ramp to bring motorists from northbound I-275 to 118th Avenue won't open for several years. Lisa Gunther hops on the interstate at 118th Avenue to drive home from work. She also works for HSN, which operates from a large complex near 118th Avenue and 28th Street. A vice president for the company's human resources deparment, Gunther lives in Treasure Island. Until the ramp opened in August, she drove south to Gandy Boulevard to get on the interstate. Now, an entrance to the highway is just moments from HSN's employee parking lot. "I love it," she said. "It's wonderful."
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