Junction will be region's largest

The intersection of Bruce B. Downs and State Road 56 is about to get much bigger.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP, Times Staff Writer
Published December 31, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Just when Pasco County has lost some bragging rights as a record setter in the region's home building scene, here comes another superlative.

Work is expected to start by the end of January on a $60-million project to extend State Road 56 and create the biggest intersection in the Tampa Bay area.

The project's engineers are even saying that the enlarged junction of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and S.R. 56 would be the second-largest in the country, trailing only one in Sin City.

"I was told that the only other intersection in the U.S. that is bigger would be Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, in Las Vegas," said David Evans, a friend of the Porter family and a former top executive at Pinellas-based Lansbrook Development Corp., who was brought in to force the pace on the road project.

The cost for the project is shared by the Porter family - the Porters need the traffic improvements to accommodate their 5,000-acre Wiregrass Ranch - and the developers of the neighboring communities of Wesley Chapel Lakes and Seven Oaks.

In March, Florida Department of Transportation planners were already calling it "the largest intersection in the district."

The district covers Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Hernando and Citrus counties.

Evans said he hasn't verified the claim by the project's engineers, but he pointed out that the 250-foot right of way on each side of the intersection would eventually stretch 12 lanes wide - making it, if not the second-largest in the nation, still a mighty big kahuna.

Dwayne Kile, the state engineer who oversees design for Tampa Bay area projects, said the 250-foot right of way is only about 100 feet less than what state officials would require for the width of interstate highway projects.

When constructed as planned, Bruce B. Downs will cover eight lanes south of S.R. 56, and there will be six lanes on the other sides of the intersection. Every direction of traffic will get "triple lefts," or three left-turn lanes, said Kris Carson, the department's spokeswoman.

The developers expect to secure state approval in mid January, and start construction by the end of the month, Evans said.

"We're in the final stages of getting approval from FDOT for the extension of S.R. 56 from Bruce B. Downs to Meadow Pointe Boulevard," he said.

Wiregrass Ranch is paying a record $579-million price tag, out of a government-mandated total of $1.7-billion required for the development's road improvement projects. But Crown Community, the developer of Seven Oaks, and Wesley Chapel Lakes, which is part of the Meadow Pointe development, are sharing in the intersection costs.

The introduction of Evans as the Porters' emissary gives a hint of how difficult negotiations have been, and how critical the project is to Wiregrass Ranch.

The $105-million Shops at Wiregrass mall being built at that intersection needs the S.R. 56 extension in place to open by fall 2008. The road extension is also said to have triggered intense interest from commercial developers for property surrounding S.R. 56, Evans said.

The 3-mile extension would be a lifeline to Meadow Pointe residents, opening a second access point to Bruce B. Downs and the interstate. It will relieve school traffic to and from John Long Middle School and Wiregrass Ranch High School.

Once done, S.R. 56 would run six lanes wide to the entrance of the mall, then narrow to four lanes until it reaches the edge of Meadow Pointe.

Timed to start at the same time: Crown Community's project to widen Bruce B. Downs, south of S.R. 56, to eight lanes.

"That should be getting under way next month also," said Michele Baker, Pasco's chief assistant county administrator.

Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at cyap@sptimes.com or 813 909-4613.

[Last modified December 30, 2007, 23:26:09]