The stretch completes the upgraded connection between Palm Harbor and South Pasadena that parallels U.S. 19.
By LORRI HELFAND
Published March 10, 2004
CLEARWATER - Drivers will be able to cruise down a new span of Keene Road today. Really.
County officials initially planned to pull down the barricades on the expansion of the County Road 1 corridor from Drew Street to Sunset Point Road on Tuesday afternoon.
But they felt it would be less confusing to motorists if they finished all the final work and opened the span in time for early morning traffic today.
"It's about time," said Ruthann Fischer, who owns Fischer Motors on Drew Street. "I think it will be absolutely great."
Tuesday, crews hammered out the finishing touches, adding more striping south of Drew Street and coordinating traffic lights on Drew and Sunset Point Road.
The expansion encompasses a small span of highway at 11/2 miles, County Commissioner Susan Latvala said at a conference to celebrate the project.
But it's the last section in a long-awaited, 24-mile route that runs north to south from Alderman Road in Palm Harbor to Pasadena Avenue in South Pasadena.
"It's going to make a huge difference in the lives of people in Pinellas County," Latvala said.
Assistant County Administrator Keith Wicks said working on this particular span was actually the easy part.
Waiting to break ground on this stretch and a span south of Drew Street took more patience.
"It was the county's commitment for a long time to build this pathway parallel to U.S. 19," said Wicks, who oversees the county's public works department.
The city had planned the route for decades, spurred by increasing traffic on several north-south routes, but also had to dedicate time and resources to McMullen-Booth and Belcher roads, other north-south routes, Wicks said.
