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S.R. 56 Gets Scooped For Extension

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 18, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Developers and Pasco County officials will formally break ground Wednesday on the long-awaited eastern extension of State Road 56.

Rather than the usual golden shovels, the assembled dignitaries will use an enormous ice cream scoop to kick off the project at 10:30 a.m., said Leslie Reznick, spokeswoman for Forest City Enterprises, one of the two developers overseeing the $25 million road project.

Forest City and its partner, West Palm Beach-based The Goodman Co., are building the 800,000-square-foot Shops at Wiregrass open-air shopping center at the northeast corner of S.R. 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

The ceremony will happen at that intersection.

The groundbreaking will set in motion a road project more than four years in the making. County officials see the extension as vital to reducing traffic congestion on State Road 54 about three miles to the north.

The first leg of the project, which kicks off Wednesday, will link Bruce B. Downs and Meadow Pointe Boulevard. Crews have 18 months to finish the work, according to the developers' deal with the county.

The work that starts this week is timed so that the portion in front of Shops at Wiregrass will be finished when the plaza opens Oct. 30.

Long-term plans call for extending S.R. 56 nearly 10 miles to U.S. 301 south of Zephyrhills.

Work on S.R. 56 will coincide with the widening of Bruce B. Downs between County Line Road and S.R. 54. Where S.R. 56 and Bruce B. Downs meet, the builders will construct one of the region's largest intersections - 10 lanes in every direction.

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

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