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Don't take $28-million for U.S. 41 for granted

A month ago, Pasco Commissioner Pat Mulieri lamented the crowded condition of U.S. 41 through the central part of the county.

"I have a lot of concern for U.S. 41," Mulieri, whose district includes the area, said at a Nov. 8 commission meeting. "It's like a city growing out there."

Indeed. The north-south road is a multilaned, divided highway from Hillsborough County north to Tower Road, just south of Land O'Lakes High School. After that, however, it's a two-lane road to Hernando County. There, construction crews are working to widen the highway from the county line north to Spring Hill Drive.

But that is of little benefit to most Pasco residents. Here, the road is the site of frequent backups as school traffic and morning commuters share the single lanes in each direction. Growth north of the school complex includes Connerton on the east side of U.S. 41, the rapidly developing Tierra Del Sol and other approved neighborhoods west of the highway.

Well, help is on the way. Buried amid the glee over new dollars and cents earmarked for State Road 52 and U.S. 19 in Pasco County is an apparently forgotten commitment to improve U.S. 41. The Florida Department of Transportation's tentative five-year work plan includes $28-million for right of way, construction and design work on portions of the highway north of Tower Road.

The specifics include $8.7-million to buy right of way from Tower Road to the Ridge Road Extension in the next state budget year beginning July 1. Construction, at a cost of $17-million, will follow two years later. In addition, the work plan includes $2.6-million to design the segment from Ridge Road north to State Road 52.

The work plan is the subject of a public hearing from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Hernando Government Center, 20 N Main St., Brooksville. DOT will submit the work plans to the Legislature in March.

Even though Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, chairs the Senate committee overseeing DOT spending, Pasco County government might want to send a representative to the public hearing just to play it safe. The message? Hands off our dough.

This isn't the first time money for U.S. 41 has been in the state work program. Four years ago, DOT came before the Metropolitan Planning Organization and announced it was pushing back seven previously announced road projects in Pasco. The state blamed the high cost of buying right of way for a budget shortfall and the resulting inability to do the work according to its timeline. Buying right of way for U.S. 41 north of Tower Road was one of the seven projects to hit the road block.

The new tentative five-year work plan, which includes $280-million for Pasco projects, reaffirms the state's commitment to widen the two-lane corridor through central Pasco. It's a welcome reminder.

Despite efforts to produce more private-sector jobs within Pasco's boundaries, the central portion of the county is a bedroom community to Tampa and Hillsborough County and likely will remain so for the foreseeable future. Ensuring the accompanying road network can handle the daily crush of commuters in cars and students on school buses requires near-constant vigilance. It is up to DOT and county officials to make sure improvements to central Pasco's major north-south route remain on schedule.

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 02:15:34]