Pasco: State wants to solve U.S. 301 traffic woes

State wants to solve U.S. 301 traffic woes

A workshop in Zephyrhills will focus on ideas for ending gridlock on the busy highway.

By CARY DAVIS

ZEPHYRHILLS -- As any Zephyrhills driver knows, the two-lane portion of U.S. 301 through the middle of town can test the calmest of nerves.

The lunch hour -- when people flock to the fast-food restaurants, banks and auto-parts stores that line the busy stretch of road -- can be especially frustrating.

With no turn lanes to keep traffic moving, the road often resembles a mall parking lot on the day after Thanksgiving.

The Florida Department of Transportation says it wants to do something to correct the problem.

The department will hold a public workshop in Zephyrhills on Thursday to discuss the options it is considering. The workshop, at St. Joseph's Parish, 38750 Fifth Ave., will run from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. It will give residents a forum to air their views and ask questions of department officials.

The Transportation Department began studying the traffic problem on U.S. 301 through Zephyrhills in the late 1980s. Engineers have concentrated their efforts on the 2.6-mile stretch between County Road 54 and State Road 39.

They started with seven options and recently narrowed the list to three alternatives:

Extending both Sixth and Seventh streets south to SR 39. Under this option, Sixth Street would be a one-way thoroughfare for southbound traffic, and Seventh Street would carry northbound traffic. U.S. 301 would be left the way it is.

Extending Sixth Street down to SR 39. Sixth Street would carry southbound traffic, and U.S. 301 would become a one-way route for northbound motorists. Seventh Street would be not be lengthened, but it would be converted to handle two-way traffic.

Extending Seventh Street south to SR 39. Seventh Street would be a one-way route for northbound motorists, and U.S. 301 would handle southbound traffic. Sixth Street would then become a two-way road.

"It looks like we're going ahead with the design phase," said Ron Winter, spokesman for the FDOT's Tampa office. "This workshop will help us decide which design we're going to use."

Winter said department engineers will probably settle on one of the three options by the end of next year. Funding for the project has not yet been approved, he said.

For motorists such as Larry Huggins, any option the department chooses would be an improvement from the current situation.

"When it's snowbird season, you can't even get out of any of these places," said Huggins, 37, who lives between Dade City and Zephyrhills on U.S. 301. "It's bad all the way through town. Frustration is very high, and it's just getting worse."

But the proposed changes don't make everybody happy.

Pat and Derek Thomas own commercial property on U.S. 301. They are worried that any changes could hurt property values and may have a negative impact on businesses.

"It's already one way (on Sixth and Seventh streets)," said Pat Thomas, 42. "There's no need for this. It's crazy."

FDOT officials also know they're likely to encounter resistence from residents whose homes and neighborhoods are in the paths planned for any southward extensions of Sixth and Seventh streets.

But Zephyrhills city officials say something must be done.

Four years ago, the city converted Sixth and Seventh streets to one-way thoroughfares, hoping the change would take motorists passing through town off U.S. 301.

But Todd Vande Berg, the city's director of development, said traffic counts on U.S. 301 continue to rise, especially along the stretch south of Fifth Avenue.

"Traffic really gets backed up down there," he said.

City Manager Steve Spina said he favors adding a turning lane to U.S. 301 through town and leaving Sixth and Seventh streets the way they are -- an option the FDOT has dropped from consideration.

Spina said traffic on U.S. 301 would be reduced if more people used Chancey Road, which turns into County Road 35A north of town, to bypass Zephyrhills.

"If you're going from Tampa to Ocala," Spina said, "there's no reason to go through Zephyrhills."