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By WES PLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2001
The Suncoast Parkway certainly is an impressive new road.
But I'll probably never use it.
Oh, don't get me wrong. It's nothing personal. I wouldn't mind paying a toll for a road that got me faster from Point A to Point B.
It's just that, well, geographically speaking, it makes little sense for me. Other residents of Land O'Lakes probably feel the same way.
Face it: To use the parkway, we have to brave State Road 54 construction, the intersection at U.S. 41, and then go 4 miles out of our way to reach the Suncoast Parkway interchange.
It won't get us to the airport any faster -- in fact, it adds time to the trip. It's faster for us to head south on U.S. 41, then buzz down Dale Mabry Highway to the Veterans Expressway. Costs less in tolls too.
Now, I might use it if I'm heading north to State Road 52 or Hernando County -- especially on mornings when I want to bypass the traffic strangle on U.S. 41 near Land O'Lakes High School. But this assumes you'd catch me awake and ready to roll at that time of the day. You'd have a better chance of seeing Malcolm Glazer spike the Vince Lombardi trophy in the end zone at Raymond James Stadium.
I might use the cycle trail. Wait, who am I kidding? I'll walk around my neighborhood, but I've never been one to go too far out of my way for exercise. Besides, I can always go hiking on the Cypress Creek trail -- much closer to home.
No, the Suncoast Parkway is too far west to be of much practical use to central Pasco commuters who live east of U.S. 41.
Who's using it in central Pasco?
Odessa commuters, I'd wager. Probably some folks from Shady Hills and Gowers Corner. Eventually, traffic will come from the soon-to-be built subdivisions around the parkway west of U.S. 41.
Living next to the parkway, with a need to get south without driving all the way to U.S. 41 or U.S. 19 should be a boon for them (I know some folks in Odessa have been opposed to the parkway because they consider it a threat to the environment. Unfortunately, they waited until far too late to protest.) So, huzzah for the Suncoast Parkway, may it benefit those who will actually use it.
The road that I'm counting on to make life easier for me is State Road 56. It's shorter than the Suncoast Parkway, won't require tolls, and it will create a much-needed shortcut to Interstate 75 and New Tampa. That is a road I'll use. I suspect it's a road many Land O'Lakes residents will use -- certainly with greater frequency than the Suncoast Parkway.
State Road 56, when it opens late this year, will eliminate the need to endure that terrible mismatched intersection where Collier Parkway, Livingston Avenue and County Line Road collide on the Pasco-Hillsborough border.
It will provide a quick route to the bustling burbs in New Tampa, the University of South Florida and Temple Terrace. It might even help relieve traffic in Wesley Chapel at the SR 54/I-75 interchange (keep your fingers crossed).
No tolls, and a really practical use.
As usual, Christmas can't get here fast enough.
- Wes Platt is the central and east Pasco bureau chief of the Times. He can be reached at (813) 226-3454. Send letters c/o Pasco Times, 24038 State Road 54, Lutz, FL 33549. Send e-mail to platt@sptimes.com. Send faxes to (813) 226-3455. Join our Web-based discussion forum and voice your thoughts on this and other topics at www.sptimes.com/pascoforum.