SR 56 extension work to start March 10

The county's top planners okay the project, which should be done by September 2009.

By Chuin-Wei Yap, Times Staff Writer
Published February 15, 2008

DADE CITY - With little fanfare, the county's top staff planners on Thursday signed off on construction plans for the long-awaited 3-mile extension of State Road 56.

Construction on the extension is expected to begin March 10, and must be completed in 18 months, which - barring hurricanes and other unforeseen disasters - should be around September 2009.

"I want to try to get this road as fast as possible," said County Administrator John Gallagher. "I want this road completed because I'm going to start tearing up State Road 54, and 581 is going to start construction."

County Road 581 refers to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, which is also due to start widening south of SR 56 at the same time.

The projects' $60-million tab is shared by three developments: Wiregrass Ranch, Wesley Chapel Lakes and Seven Oaks.

The SR 56 builders need to tie down a handful of other permits, including gopher tortoise relocation and water management, before the county issues its development permit to flag off the extension work.

Stretching from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard through Mansfield and Meadow Pointe boulevards, the project is a lifeline for the $130-million Shops at Wiregrass, a major mall scheduled to open at SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs in October.

By then, the first phase of the extension, running six lanes wide through Porter Boulevard, should be done. The rest of the extension runs four lanes wide through the edge of the Meadow Pointe development.

In other Development Review Committee news Thursday:

- Planners agreed to construction plans for a new CVS store in Meadow Pointe. The store and an accompanying strip center cover 17,000 square feet at County Line Road and Mansfield Boulevard.

- The wheels also were set in motion to change the land use for 2,384 acres southeast of SR 52 and Bellamy Brothers Boulevard that will be designated a mixed-use employment center, and to bump up the density for a 534-acre mixed-use project at Suncoast Parkway and SR 52, currently called the Bell Fruit property.

The committee's approval now sends the projects to the county's Local Planning Agency and county commissioners, who would then forward the proposals to the state Department of Community Affairs.

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

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 23:23:57]