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Rising prices kill one paving project, delay another

Prices for cement, steel and oil continue to increase, driving up the costs of road construction and threatening resident-driven projects.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published March 29, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Unforeseen cost increases killed one county paving project Tuesday and delayed another.

Three other projects will go forward despite cost increases of up to 76 percent.

The five small paving projects - most less than a mile in length - affect just a handful of rural property owners, but swiftly rising prices have jeopardized road programs throughout the area.

"It's a regional problem, and it's a statewide problem as well," said Kristen Carson, spokeswoman for Florida Department of Transportation District 7, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

In February, the district announced delays in seven transportation projects after price increases totaling $61.2-million.

"I think what you're seeing with all the transportation agencies is we're doing what we can now to maintain our funded programs," said Ned Baier, manager of transportation planning for Hillsborough County. Rising costs have Hillsborough struggling to pay for its transportation plans and facing a $7-billion shortfall, Baier said.

Increases in the cost of cement, steel and oil - a key component of asphalt - have driven the steep escalation in road construction costs. Hurricane damage, rising shipping costs and increased demand for construction supplies have compounded the problem. Highway and street construction costs rose 12.1 percent last year, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Hernando County felt the pinch this week, with five resident-driven paving projects facing cancellation because of rising costs. The affected property owners petitioned to get their roads paved last summer, each agreeing to pay a share of the cost.

But property owners balked after construction bids came back far higher than expected. Since last summer, the combined cost of the five projects increased more than 64 percent, from $565,559 to $928,321.

"This is a working-class neighborhood out there, and we just can't afford this," said Barbara Wood, one of 38 property owners affected by the paving of a stretch of Eskimo Curlew Road, west of Brooksville.

Residents there petitioned to pave the road at an estimated cost of $235,308, but the bid came back at $377,002. If financed over a seven-year period, it would increase each property owner's price from $3.95 per frontage foot to $6.20 per frontage foot.

The commission voted 5-0 to postpone the project so that county staffers could determine if two-thirds of the property owners - the required threshold for the original petition - still favored the project.

The commission voted 5-0 to cancel paving of a portion of Golddust Road in Spring Hill after the original petitioner said several homeowners had withdrawn their support because of increased costs.

Paving projects on Waterbird Way in Spring Hill, Flower Avenue north of High Point, and Kiska Wren Road in northwest Hernando County will proceed.

William Muchler, a resident of Kiska Wren Road, said most property owners are willing to shoulder the increased cost. Kiska Wren residents faced the steepest increase, from $75,504 to $132,804, an increase of 76 percent.

The increase leaves Muchler facing a $4,419 tab, a steep increase from the $2,761 originally estimated. Muchler said he preferred to part with the $1,658 difference rather than put up with the constant cloud of lime rock dust that plagues homeowners now.

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or 352 754-6127.

[Last modified March 29, 2006, 01:23:20]