Swiftmud grants the county one of the permits it needs to build Ridge Road Extension.
By JAMES THORNER
Published July 30, 2003
As far as the Southwest Florida Water Management District is concerned, Pasco County can start paving the way for Ridge Road Extension, the 8.6-mile shortcut to the Suncoast Parkway.
After three years of delays, the water district's governing board approved a permit for the county to build the $25-million road to connect Moon Lake Road, the Suncoast Parkway and U.S. 41.
"Pasco has the permit it needs from the water management district to put the Ridge Road extension in," district spokesman Michael Molligan said after the unanimous vote in Brooksville Tuesday.
The county still needs a similar permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, but Tuesday's vote cleared the biggest obstacle to a highway stymied by environmental activists.
Led by the group Citizens for Sanity, opponents emphasized that Ridge Road would sever the 9,000-acre Serenova nature preserve, destroy 49 acres of wetlands and endanger animals forced to cross the asphalt.
The issue of urban sprawl also played a part: Ridge Road will be a line to farm land between the Suncoast Parkway and U.S. 41 that developers plan to convert to thousands of homes.
Citizens for Sanity arranged a hearing with a judge to challenge the water district's plan to issue the permit. But right before the June hearing, the group's spokesman, Clay Colson, unexpectedly withdrew the challenge.
On Tuesday in Brooksville, Colson apologized to his supporters, citing personal reasons for his failure to pursue the case.
County officials view Ridge Road as a needed east-west route to relieve traffic on State Roads 52 and 54. One of its future functions will be hurricane evacuation of Pasco's densely populated coastal communities.
Phase 1 of the project, four lanes that will take about 11/2 years to complete, runs between Moon Lake Road and the parkway, where an overpass was built in expectation of Ridge Road's arrival.
The next phase, two lanes expandable to four, will connect the parkway to U.S. 41. There, the highway will link up with Connerton, the 9,000-home "new town" that's supposed to break ground next year.
In a related issue, the water management district failed to persuade a judge to force Colson to reimburse the district for legal costs in the case that ran to more than $20,000.
In denying the water district's request, administrative law judge Richard Hixon ruled that Colson's challenge wasn't "improper or frivolous."
