Updates Given On Road Projects

By LAURA KINSLER The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

NEW TAMPA - Discussion about putting the kibosh on New Tampa's east-west toll road dominated Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio's transportation summit Monday, but it wasn't the only news to come out of the regional roundtable.

And the $150 million toll road, which would connect Tampa Palms to Interstate 275, wasn't the only project to suffer from lack of funding. Officials from Hillsborough and Pasco counties, Tampa and the Florida Department of Transportation took turns giving updates on road projects in various stages of development.

Interstate Improvements

FDOT came with a mixed bag of news. The flyover interchange at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Interstate 75 is running ahead of schedule and should open by late summer, but the ramp will continue to funnel commuters onto two southbound lanes for the foreseeable future.

The department has delayed plans to widen I-75 north of Fowler Avenue or I-275 north of U.S. 41 to six lanes. FDOT District 7 Commissioner Don Skelton said both projects are well into the design phase but have no money for construction. Their construction was pushed back to 2014 at the earliest.

"We've had to remove $1.4 billion worth of projects from our work program," he said.

FDOT has partnered with Pasco County for a number of road improvements in the Wesley Chapel area. The state will spend $57 million rebuilding the "apex" where I-75 and I-275 merge. The project will create ramps on which vehicles will exit directly onto State Road 56 without entering the lanes where the interstate traffic merges.

Cross Creek Boulevard

The Tampa Transportation Department will start this month on the environmental studies for the final widening project for Cross Creek Boulevard, between Cory Lake Isles and Morris Bridge Road. The study should take 15 months, and the design stage should take about 18 months. Construction would start in fall 2011 and is estimated to cost $19 million.

Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan questioned why the third segment would be so much more expensive than the second segment, which cost $6 million to complete.

Bruce B. Downs Boulevard

Construction on the first phase of Bruce B. Downs' widening, between Palm Springs Boulevard and Pebble Creek Drive, is scheduled for early 2009. The northernmost segment, from Pebble Creek Drive to the Pasco County line, is scheduled for construction in 2011. The southern segment, between Palms Springs and Bearss Avenue, is in the 90 percent design phase but has no money for construction. It is expected to cost $100 million.

The southern segment will be eligible for state and federal funding, and Hagan reassured Tampa Palms residents that the county would find the money to pay its share.

"That project is the No. 1 priority on our unfunded road list," Hagan said. "We will get the funding for it. It just will take more time."

State Road 56

Pasco County's eastern extension of S.R. 56 from Bruce B. Downs to Meadow Pointe Boulevard is scheduled for construction in 2009 and should last 18 months.

County Administrator John Gallagher said that when the extension is completed, Pasco would reconsider allowing a road connection from Tampa's K-Bar Ranch to Meadow Pointe Boulevard. Pasco County refuses to allow the connection between Kinnan Street and County Line Road because it doesn't want additional traffic moving through that residential area.

"I've threatened to go out there in the middle of the night and move those barriers," Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said.

Morris Bridge Road

Although Pasco County is planning to widen Morris Bridge Road to four and six lanes between the county line and S.R. 54, Hillsborough County has no such plans.

Hillsborough County Public Works Director Bob Gordon said a similar project in Hillsborough would be impossible because the road travels through sensitive environmental lands.

The best Hillsborough drivers can look forward to would be enhancements such as turn lanes, on Morris Bridge Road. But that project ranks about 70th on the county's priority list. "It looks to me like there's a bit of a disconnect between Pasco and Hillsborough on Morris Bridge Road," Iorio said.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.