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Holidays race by as road spins its wheels

County Line Road was late on Labor Day. Now completion by Easter is more realistic.

By JAMES THORNER
Published November 29, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - The contractors widening County Line Road missed their Turkey Day deadline. The question now is whether they can beat the Easter Bunny.

Four months past its July 29 deadline to finish work on the 1.4-mile project, APAC-Southeast Inc. probably won't finish the Wesley Chapel job before March, said Pasco County engineer Jim Widman.

That means several more months of traffic jams as Meadow Pointe residents negotiate the construction site near Sand Pine Elementary School.

County Line Road has been a sore spot for years. Meadow Pointe's developer provided only two lanes for much of its length, the only convenient access road for more than 3,000 homes.

Since the July 29 contract breach, Widman's department has fined APAC $500 per work day. The bill has climbed to tens of thousands of dollars, though that's only a fraction of the cost of the $2.9-million project.

But to the engineer's frustration, APAC seems to be treating County Line Road as a low-priority project.

Other APAC projects, including a more profitable one near MacDill Air Force Base, seem to be consuming much of the company's time, Widman said. County engineers' calls to APAC's Atlanta headquarters have come to naught. The company also has not returned messages left by the St. Petersburg Times .

Although workers have laid much of the asphalt base coat, many drains and sidewalks are still missing.

"They've turned over a lot of supervisors, and there has been discontinuity on the project," Widman said. "They haven't been able to put the manpower on the project they've needed."

After missing the July deadline, APAC reassured the county the job would end by Thanksgiving. The company has pushed the closing to January, but Widman is placing his bets on March.

"Their fines are stacking up," he said. "They're out of time."

--James Thorner covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at 813 909-4613 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4613. His e-mail address is thorner@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 29, 2005, 02:15:28]