 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Officials debate Keystone widening
By KATHERINE GAZELLA © St. Petersburg Times, published November 4, 2000 TARPON SPRINGS -- As officials prepare to hear public comment about the widening of Keystone Road, the city and county are making different recommendations about which plan is the best option. The county plans to turn a 3-mile stretch of the cramped two-lane road into a divided, four-lane corridor in the next five years, but officials are letting the public consider three different plans for the widening.
County commissioners have said they favor a $15.6-million plan with a 22-foot median and 120 feet of right of way. A third plan, which would cost $18.3-million, would have a rural look, a 40-foot median and 200 feet of right of way. The road would be bordered by swales and ditches. Tarpon Springs officials have said the option they support is a practical way of planning for future needs. The county may not need to expand the road to six lanes, but this plan gives them more flexibility, said Walter Fufidio, the city's director of planning and zoning. Nobody knows now whether the county will need to expand the road to six lanes, said Jim Collins, a transportation division engineer for the county. "That's open for discussion," he said. "It's just dependent on what happens with the surrounding areas." All three plans include a leg of the Pinellas Trail along the north side of Keystone Road. All three also would displace about 18 homeowners on the south side of Keystone Road. The county plans to begin buying right of way for the project in June 2002. Road construction would begin in the 2003-04 fiscal year, Collins said. The road widening is a Penny for Pinellas project, and county officials have said that by going with the least-expensive option, they would have $2-million to spend on other transportation projects in the county. Still, they have said they would present all three options to residents even though county officials favor the $15.6-million design. A public meeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. at East Lake High School, 1300 Silver Eagle Drive. - Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times North Pinellas desks |
The city of Tarpon Springs supports a $17.6-million plan that provides a 46-foot median and 154 feet of right of way. If the road needed to be widened to six lanes in the future, this plan would allow the county to do that without buying more right of way.
