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Congress Street Intersection Improvements Postponed

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By CARL ORTH The Suncoast News

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - A fix for a dangerous intersection on Congress Street at Pine Hill Road and Orchid Lake Road could take up to five years, county officials learned.

Penny for Pasco sales tax revenue is supposed to pay to rebuild the intersection.

The project, however, might turn out to cost four to five times as much as the county first estimated, Chief Assistant County Administrator Michele Baker told county commissioners last week.

The county wanted to spend $652,000 on improvements, including a possible traffic signal, but basically keep the current alignment. Pine Hill Road on the west side of Congress is offset from Orchid Lake Road on the east side of Congress. Left turns can be particularly tricky for drivers.
New Port Richey city officials wanted to realign the intersection to eliminate the jog in the road, Baker said. That could boost the cost to $2.9 million because land would have to be bought to make room for the changes.

"If you drive that area, you know how dangerous that is," Baker said, "and so the city requested that we relook at trying to realign that intersection, which of course makes it more costly and will require land acquisition."

The project now appears on a Penny for Pasco list for fiscal year 2014, which starts in October 2013.

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