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7 Road Projects Targeted For Funds

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: December 17, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - County commissioners Tuesday created a list of seven road projects they hope will qualify for federal funding under a prospective economic stimulus plan proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

The seven road projects were placed atop $1.4 billion in projects the county will submit to the federal government for support from the proposed $700 billion public works-oriented stimulus. The projects on the list qualified for consideration because they were deemed "shovel ready" and could start within the next two years, County Administrator John Gallagher said.

The project list will be forwarded to the National Association of Counties, which is compiling a roster of prospective projects that could benefit from the stimulus spending, county officials say.

At the top of the project list is $33.5 million to widen U.S. 41 between Tower Road and Connerton Boulevard in Land O' Lakes.

The rest of the list includes:

• State Road 54 from Interstate 75 to Curley Road. County officials are already buying right of way for that project and expect to start construction late next year.

• Clinton Avenue between McKendree Road and Prospect Road in east Pasco. The western half of that project was the responsibility of the developers of Bella Verde, which has been stalled by the housing market downturn.

• U.S. 19 median changes designed to reduce the number of full-access cuts across one of Pasco's deadliest roads.

• Widening of Moon Lake Road to four lanes. County officials have been buying right of way along that road for several years.

• Zephyrhills Bypass Extension from Curley Road to Eiland Boulevard, which county officials see as easing congestion until S.R. 54 east of Curley can be improved.

• Ridge Road between Moon Lake and the Suncoast Parkway. That project, which would cross the state's Serenova Preserve, remains under review by the Army Corps of Engineers and continues to draw fire from residents opposed to it.

The rest of the list headed to Congress includes money for paving Pasco's 191 miles of dirt roads, along with a variety of utility improvements and a new landfill cell.

Also Tuesday, property owners in the Pasadena Hills section of east Pasco County presented commissioners with a plan for financing roads, schools and parks when development begins on the sprawling rural area northwest of Zephyrhills.

County officials have spent the past two years working with landowners, development experts and residents to craft a decades-long development plan for the 22,000-acre area between Curley and Fort King roads. County commissioners ordered the comprehensive approach to avoid the kind of piecemeal development that has blanketed Wesley Chapel and most of west Pasco in a sprawling mix of shopping centers, office parks and cul-de-sac subdivisions.

Planners and landowners conceived of a 50-year window for developing Pasadena Hills with a patchwork of high-density communities centered around small commercial centers, parks, preserves and schools - all knit together by a network of two-lane roads.

As presented Tuesday, the Pasadena Hills plan calls for more than $600 million in impact fees on future residential and commercial development to pay for the road system. An additional $30 million in fees would supply land for schools and parks.

The impact fee system would put tack nearly $19,000 in fees onto the cost of building a single-family home, a 28 percent premium on the county's current maximum allowable fees. Multifamily developments would pay more than $12,000 per unit.

Landowners have agreed to donate the land needed for road construction to ensure it goes smoothly, said Pat Gassaway, vice president of Tampa-based Heidt Engineering, which helped develop the financial plan.

Commissioners will formally adopt the Pasadena Hills financial plan in January.

"This is a very ambitious project, but I think it's going to be renowned," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said.

In other action, commissioners approved a new rate of $12.44 per month for residential trash collection. Commercial trash pick-up would range from $24 a month for the smallest users to $439 per month for the largest.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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