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Funding Delays Road Projects

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By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

Updated: 12/13/2007 11:55 pm

PINELLAS PARK - A projected decline in gas taxes is forcing the Department of Transportation to scale back its five-year roadwork program across the state.

In a public meeting Thursday night at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, state transportation officials said 11 projects in Citrus, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties will be pushed back because more fuel-efficient vehicles are causing gas taxes to decline.

Gas taxes, the main source of revenue for state road projects, are expected to decline by $800 million statewide over the next five years. DOT's work program, which is updated yearly, is budgeted at $1.4 billion for the 2008-2013 cycle.

"While less fuel consumption is a good thing for the environment, our transportation funding is tied to that," said Don Skelton, secretary for the transportation district that includes the Tampa Bay area.

Skelton could not say how much revenue will decline for Bay area projects, although several will be delayed.

In Hillsborough, for example, the $15 million widening of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between Highview Road and Parsons Avenue in Brandon, was rescheduled from 2010 to 2013.

In 2010, the department had expected to purchase $23 million worth of right of way for the eventual widening of Interstate 75 in Pasco County between State Road 56 and County Road 54. Now that purchase is set for 2012.

So far, no projects have been dropped, and some new ones have been added.

To tackle increasing congestion in south Pasco, the department set aside $8 million in 2013 to purchase right of way for the eventual widening of State Road 54 from County Road 577 to Morris Bridge Road.

Also new, DOT penciled in a plan to spend $2.6 million on new sidewalks in 2013 in connection with Tampa's downtown Riverwalk project.

DOT's work program must still be approved by the Legislature next year.

So far, no major changes are planned in the district's five-year plan, although that could change once lawmakers start debating the department's budget in March.

"That's always a possibility," Skelton said.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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