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Erstwhile State Road 54 stretch stuck in naming limbo

By STEVE HEGARTY
Published March 14, 2005

Okay, this isn't quite on par with Zephyrhills' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue road-renaming controversy.

But it is starting to get interesting.

Last week we mentioned the renaming of a street. It's the road that used to be State Road 54 just east of Gunn Highway, that is, until they rerouted that part of SR 54.

It sounded simple. The county needed to rename the mile-long stretch of road because, well, it's not SR 54 anymore. The ball got rolling when Mike Rogers, who has a business along the road, asked the county to give him a new address so customers could find him.

(Think about it; you could drive up and down SR 54 and never see the wonderful Renedo's Place Mexican restaurant, which has been on SR 54 more than 25 years. Suddenly it's on the road formerly known as SR 54.)

The county proposed renaming the street Black Lake Road, after a pretty little lake in the area.

Well, it's not that simple.

The AMVETS Post 9, which has a building along the road in question, suggested another name: AMVETS Way. Several veterans showed up at the County Commission meeting last week to make their case. They're regulars in the area. They raise money for charity.

A few of their neighbors out there on Whatchamacallit Road don't think much of that idea.

"We're not that set on Black Lake Road, but that was fine," said Lynette Rogers, who, with her husband Mike, owns American Custom Guttering located on ... well, that road. They had no objections to Black Lake Road, so they didn't show up at the meeting.

They were surprised to hear Black Lake was out, that the county was considering naming the road AMVETS Way.

That, Mrs. Rogers suggested, "makes as much sense as naming it American Custom Guttering Way." What if AMVETS moves? The name wouldn't make any sense.

What to do? Commissioner Pat Mulieri had an idea: Call it Veteran's Way. Nope. There's already a Veterans Drive in New Port Richey.

Who knew this road-renaming stuff could be so complicated?

The county will wrestle with this one again, perhaps at the next meeting March 22.

Black Lake Road is sounding better all the time.

20th Street not quite done

The new 20th Street extension in Zephyrhills sure looks about ready to open, doesn't it?

To the untrained eye, maybe.

It will probably be May before the road is extended to the U.S. 98 Bypass.

Why? Funny thing about road construction. Roads that seem to take forever to build suddenly take shape in a rush. The problem is that the last things done before a road opens are some of the most time consuming. County engineers tell us the striping still needs to be done and the asphalt has to "cure," a process that takes about 30 days.

Look at it this way: There was talk of the project being done last year. With that in mind, it won't be long.

--Want to vent about traffic problems? Drivers' Side welcomes commuters' rants, comments and suggestions. Send e-mail to hegarty@sptimes.com or leave a phone message at 813 909-4610.

[Last modified March 14, 2005, 01:28:20]