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NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco's transportation planning group gave initial blessing to a long-range plan that included some immediate projects and some pie-in-the-sky ideas, such as an overpass at U.S. 19 and Ridge Road.
The long-range plan includes $1.56-billion worth of projects from 2010 through 2025. Taken together with a list of more immediate projects from 2005 to 2009, it adds up to about $2-billion worth of roads, trails and transit plans.
Several members of the county's Metropolitan Planning Organization wondered aloud whether the plan included enough money for right of way acquisition. One part of the plan - the portion covering the years 2010 through 2025 - includes $1.2-billion for highway expansion, $120-million for public transit, $70-million for highway maintenance and $19-million for trails and sidewalks. It only includes $1.5-million for buying the land necessary to build the roads and trails.
That figure, which amounts to 0.1 percent of the total for 2010 through 2025, is "way too small," according to County Commissioner Steve Simon, a member of the MPO.
"There are geometric gains to garner the land early," Simon said.
Fellow commissioner and MPO member Ted Schrader agreed. He pointed to land along State Road 54 and State Road 52, some of which is still relatively rural and undeveloped today. Eventually, those roads will be widened, as developments spring up.
"If we wait till that period of time . . . it's going to be grown up out there," Schrader said. "It's going to be astronomical."
Commissioner and MPO member Pat Mulieri agreed with accelerating the purchase of right of way land, but added that she didn't want to do it at the expense of other road improvement projects.
So how could Pasco get more money to buy land that will be needed later and is getting more expensive by the day?
Simon proposed that the county could come out ahead by borrowing. With right of way land costs increasing by 10 percent or more a year, Pasco could gain by borrowing money at a rate of 5 or 6 percent, Simon said.
Commissioner Schrader suggested that Pasco should lobby its legislative delegation to free up some money specifically for such land acquisitions.
Later this month, the county will hold workshops to get feedback from the public regarding the long-range plan.
The first workshop is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Land O'Lakes Community Center. The second is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Gulf View Square mall.
Copies of the long-range plan can be found at the Pasco County government Web site at www.pascocountyfl.net See the "In the News" box and click on "Review Draft MPO Transportation Plan." Pasco residents also can comment on the plan via the Internet.