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East-West Road could break new ground

Florida Turnpike Enterprise looks at variable rates for the proposed road, with a $1.25 peak-hours toll.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published June 24, 2005

NEW TAMPA - The Florida Turnpike Enterprise already ventured into new territory by taking on the proposed East-West Road, which is the shortest and most localized road it has ever considered building.

Now, the state's toll road agency is considering another first-time venture: Using varied toll prices, with a peak-hours $1.25 price reaching a new high.

"There are quite a few firsts in this project," said Randy Fox, planning manager for Turnpike Enterprise. "If we're successful, it will be unusual. But it will also be exciting for us to break new ground."

In a toll revenue study it presented to the city in March, the Turnpike Enterprise looked at using tolls of 50 cents to $1 for the 2.9-mile connector road. Those figures weren't nearly enough to pay for the $130-million cost of building, operating and maintaining the road, so city officials asked the agency to go back and revise its study based on higher toll prices.

The agency looked at using tolls of 50 cents during off-peak times, $1 at near-peak times and $1.25 at peak times over a 30-year time period. It has not yet submitted its revised toll revenue analysis to the city, Fox said, but it planned to circulate a letter detailing its findings by the end of this week.

"It's basically to let them know that using up to a $1.25 toll does reduce some shortfall," he said.

However, some of the costs of the road will not be covered by the raised toll prices. The city is aware of this, Tampa traffic engineer Mahdi Mansour said.

"There will still be a shortfall of some amount," he said. "I know they do not have the final number for what that shortfall is."

Finding funding for the road has been one of the major hurdles in building the East-West Road, which would alleviate some of New Tampa's traffic congestion by providing drivers a link from Interstate 275 to Commerce Park Boulevard, with a bridge connecting Commerce Park and New Tampa boulevards over Interstate 75.

The Turnpike Enterprise, which operates the Veterans Expressway and the Suncoast Parkway, typically does not charge more than $1 tolls, but considered the East-West Road as a special case.

For starters, drivers on the four-lane road would be limited to 45 mph, rather than the 60 to 70 mph limits on the agency's bigger roads. Most of the road's usage would happen during rush hour, as it is expected to be most helpful to commuters living in New Tampa.

"This would be more in tune with a bridge facility," Fox said.

The city plans to close on the land needed to build the road, Mansour said, and that should happen within the next 30 days. The city and Turnpike Enterprise must still get approval from the Federal Highway Administration to add the interchange to I-275.

- Emily Nipps can be reached at 813 269-5313 or nipps@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 08:09:06]