The Florida Turnpike Enterprise is weighing whether Citrus County should have a parkway.
By JUSTIN GEORGE
Published April 9, 2004
Florida Turnpike Enterprise submitted to the federal government last month a planning, development and engineering study that recommends trimming Suncoast Parkway 2's proposed routes from 10 to three.
The study proposes to keep options "B, C and D," as they are known, and kill the rest as the project continues to whittle itself down to two options by 2006:
One desired route or no parkway in Citrus County at all.
The requested route reduction will relieve many residents, who are anxious about 10 routes now on the table, which cast a wide net over the Central Ridge, the population center of the county.
The existing stretch of the Suncoast toll road now stretches from Tampa north to U.S. 98 in Hernando County, and is meant to relieve congestion on the north-south routes of Interstate 75 and U.S. 19.
The 10 routes being proposed for a northern extension of the parkway, dubbed Suncoast Parkway 2, stretch from U.S. 98 north into Citrus County, but could snake anywhere between the Withlacoochee State Forest on the east and, to the west, some power lines that run north-south near Sugarmill Woods. The route would then, under all proposals, head northwest near State Road 44 outside Lecanto.
But the state wants to narrow the routes in the running and continue studying those that avoid environmentally sensitive areas like the Lecanto Sandhills, and those that have the fewest effects on homes and strong State Road 44 interchange possibilities.
In general, the three the state would like to keep stretch north from U.S. 98 before shifting northwest. Neighborhoods that could still be affected by proximity include Crystal Oaks and Crystal Glen. One route could touch 27 acres of commercial property that Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Hampton is under contract to buy for a large outdoor sports complex he is proposing.
"We knew from day one that one of the routes would run through it," said Paul Gibbs, designer of the proposed park, which Hampton is proposing to build with county and school district help. "It's a risk we'll have to take."
Carl Gibilaro, Suncoast Parkway 2 project manager, said he doesn't want to speculate on routes since the reality of a parkway - or the park - is not certain. But, he said, the state would try to avoid all homes, businesses and parks.
If a route is selected that goes through the park site, Gibilaro said, the state will condemn land needed, just as it would any other property.
"If we choose the alternative that would basically go near the Hampton property, then we would have to treat that as any business damage," he said. "If we had no choice than to go through that parcel, then we would pay for that damage and purchase it."
Citrus County officials, who have lobbied for fewer routes to move forward public discussion of the project, are also pleased by a possible reduction in parkway routes. With so many routes breeding so many rumors and scenarios, Development Services director Gary Maidhof said, the past six months have been wasted.
"I've always thought that running along the edge of Sugarmill Woods and along the power lines is the path of least resistance," said Gary Maidhof, development services director, approving of the three paths since they have the fewest effects on neighborhoods, environment and public lands.
Gibilaro said the state has not heard back from the Federal Highway Administration, which could authorize the requested parkway route reduction. The state Department of Transportation needs its approval if it decides to build the parkway since DOT will seek millions in federal aid.
