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New route to Pinellas gets approval
By ED QUIOCO © St. Petersburg Times, published December 15, 2000 OLDSMAR -- After at least 10 years of planning and delays, officials have given a green light to construction of an east-west road that will give motorists an alternative to the congestion of Tampa Road. Construction will begin this month on a $7.2-million road connecting the southern end of Forest Lakes Boulevard in Oldsmar to Linebaugh Avenue in northwestern Hillsborough County. The project, which has been planned or proposed for more than a decade, is scheduled to take one year to complete. "My prediction is it will be real busy on the second day after it opens," Oldsmar community development director Nick Staszko said. "And the reason it won't be busy on the first day is because people won't know about it yet." The western end of the project will expand Forest Lakes Boulevard to four lanes -- two lanes in each direction -- with a 20-foot median, Pinellas County senior engineer Ivan Fernandez said. Most of the new section of the road, east of Forest Lakes Boulevard, will have two 12-foot-wide lanes -- one lane for each direction -- and will connect to Linebaugh Avenue at Race Track Road. The county hired J.W. Conner & Sons Inc. of Tampa to build the road, which was designed to accommodate 45-mph traffic, Fernandez said. According to county plans, the new road is labeled the east-west connector road, but city officials have decided to name the entire section Forest Lakes Boulevard. The existing northern portion of Forest Lakes Boulevard that extends to the Brooker Creek Preserve will be renamed and aligned with Pine Avenue N. "Hopefully, it will pull some traffic from Tampa Road," Staszko said. Residents aren't the only ones who will benefit from the project. It also will provide some relief for businesses at the Tampa Bay Park of Commerce, which will be bisected by the new road. Uniprise, an arm of UnitedHealth Group, opened a facility for at least 700 workers at the commerce park in October. The workers now have to use the congested roads in the city's industrial district. "UnitedHealth has a traffic problem right now because effectively there (are) only a couple of ways out," Staszko said. "Once Forest Lakes Boulevard opens up, that is another way out for their employees." The new road has been on the drawing boards for so long that it's difficult to pinpoint when it was first proposed. When asked how long ago the project was first proposed, Staszko said, "At least 10 years, maybe longer. Probably we are looking at some time in the 1980s." Most recently, the project was delayed by difficulties in obtaining state permits, Fernandez said. The project also was delayed last year over "critter crossings," pipes placed under roads so that wildlife can cross without encountering traffic. The Army Corps of Engineers had insisted that 5-foot diameter pipes be placed under the new road, so even deer could safely cross. Those plans were eventually scrapped for smaller pipes. "We are happy to finally see it get to the construction phase," Fernandez said. "We had some permitting obstacles, but everything has come together." Staszko said one reasons the road work is beginning is the boom at the Tampa Bay Park of Commerce, which had been as stagnant as the planned road. But after the park was purchased by a new owner more than a year ago, several businesses have moved to the park, most notably Uniprise. "The fact that something happened out there is the motivating force," Staszko said. - Staff writer Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or at quioco@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
