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School traffic tied to road's completion

Two new schools, one opening in August, the other in January, will benefit from the completion of the eastward State Road 56 extension project.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published July 22, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - Construction on the long-awaited extension of State Road 56 is poised to begin by the end of this year, and its first half completed by the fall of 2007, at an estimated cost of $15-million.

Already beset by delays, the eastward push of the incomplete highway is critical as two schools open in the area by early next year.

John Long Middle School is scheduled to open in August, while Wiregrass Ranch High School is scheduled to open in January. The Wiregrass high school will use portable classrooms off Wesley Chapel High School its first summer.

"School traffic will have to go through Meadow Pointe before the road is complete," said Keith Appenzeller, president of Tampa's King Engineering Associates.

The firm is handling the extension for Pulte Homes and Devco Development Corp., the two developers responsible for building the extension.

The private-sector involvement is part of the deal to build Pulte's portion of Wiregrass and Devco's Wesley Chapel Lakes development.

Pulte and the Goodman Co. are paying for the first half, a four-lane, 3-mile stretch that ends at Meadow Pointe Boulevard.

The Goodman Co. is developing the Shops at Wiregrass, a large open-air mall whose traffic would also heavily depend on the SR 56 extension.

"We have 60 percent of the plans prepared and ready to submit," Appenzeller said.

With state approval expected for the fall, construction should start by year's end and be completed in 10 to 12 months, he said.

In February, Goodman officials had promised to begin construction by a September deadline.

That deadline now appears unlikely.

The county's online Capital Improvements Project map still shows that construction on the extension would begin in October 2005. A slew of other project dates on that map are inaccurate or give questionably wide berths.

The second half of the SR 56 extension narrows to two lanes, and goes on to the eastern boundary of Wesley Chapel Lakes, part of the Meadow Pointe development.

"The second leg is dependent upon approval by the state and the federal Highway Administration on a new alignment," Appenzeller said.

County officials do not expect that portion to be completed until 2009 or 2010, said Bipin Parikh, Pasco's assistant county administrator for development services. The second half of the extension is also projected to cost about $15-million, but estimates are not definite at this point.

But Parikh was fairly confident that work would move swiftly once it begins, since the extension would take place in undeveloped territory.

"It's a no man's land - there won't be maintenance of traffic required, so you can speed up the construction," he said.

"Because the schools are going to open soon, everybody wants to complete this as soon as possible," Parikh said.

Chuin-Wei Yap covers growth and development in Pasco County. He can be reached at (813) 909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 21, 2006, 22:11:46]