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Road projects ongoing; in some places, it'll help

The Penny for Pasco tax is one reason why more money has been available for road improvements.

By JAMES THORNER
Published January 2, 2006

For drivers stuck in traffic jams in places such as Trinity and Wesley Chapel, progress can't come soon enough on the asphalt additions that are supposed to make commuting less of a stress.

The good news is that some road improvements, like the four- to six-laning of State Road 54 from Little Road to Gunn Highway, are wrapping up soon.

Also in the coming-soon category is the expansion to four lanes of perennially crowded County Line Road in Wesley Chapel.

The bad news is that equally vital improvements like the widening of SR 54 near Curley Road and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard won't be finished for a couple of years. So find a good radio station to pass the time in the inevitable gridlock born of thousands of new residents filling the suburban belt from Zephyrhills to Trinity.

Last year, the county did manage to pry millions more dollars to speed right of way acquisition and construction of critical highways.

Some money comes from the Penny for Pasco one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax hike that took effect in March. The state is pitching in much of the rest, as are developers, who have to pay traffic impact fees.

Here's an update:

--SR 54 from Bruce B. Downs to Curley Road: Acquisition of land to accommodate extra lanes has been sluggish. Completion of this much-maligned corridor isn't scheduled until 2008.

--The I-75 interchange of SR 54, one of the vaunted Penny for Pasco projects, won't get fixed until 2009 at the earliest.

--The Zephyrhills Bypass Extension, which will run roughly parallel north of SR 54, is stuck on a timetable similar to SR 54's. In other words, you won't be driving on the bypass, to connect Handcart and Curley roads, before 2008.

--Extensions to Chancey Road and State Road 56 are planned between Zephyrhills and Wesley Chapel, but they are timed to open in 2015 and 2010 respectively.

--Construction starts this year on the widening to six lanes of SR 54 and SR 56, from about Livingston Road to I-75. Its completion will coincide with the opening of a proposed giant mall at I-75 and SR 56 in late 2007.

--State Road 52 and U.S. 41, two projects once resigned to the back burner, now bubble on the front burner. Thank the faster-than-expected housing construction that required fast action. U.S. 41 will get extra lanes north of Land O'Lakes High School. SR 52 will be upgraded in several phases from about Moon Lake Road, east to I-75 and then on to Dade City.

--U.S. 19, the main thoroughfare serving the county's most densely populated area, is getting a badly needed expansion to create "continuous right turn lanes." The new lanes, one in each direction, effectively widen the congested highway from six lanes to eight. Construction should start sometime in the next two years.

[Last modified January 2, 2006, 02:30:25]