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Plans Considered For Widening Eiland

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By LAURA KINSLER

lkinsler@tampatrib.com

Published: November 27, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Plans to widen Eiland Boulevard could ease congestion around Zephyrhills High School but might also require a realignment of the school's baseball field.

City and Pasco County officials are considering three options for Eiland, also known as County Road 54, between Gall Boulevard and 23rd Street. They want to widen the segment between Gall and 12th Street to a four-lane divided road with bike lanes, sidewalks and a 10-foot multipurpose trail, but they need to acquire 47 feet of right-of-way for the project.

"Our recommendation is to do the south side," project manager Andy Alipour said. "We'd only have two pieces of property to deal with."

Those parcels are the Hercules Aquatic Center and the high school.

The segment between 12th and 23rd streets would be a two-lane divided road with bike lanes, sidewalks and a multipurpose trail, Alipour said.

Project Manager Marty Moreland said the entire project should cost about $10 million. If the county and city elected to go with the northern alignment, the cost would be closer to $13.7 million.

Dozens of property owners attended a workshop Tuesday evening at Zephyrhills City Hall to learn more about the project.

Sheila Hoffer, who owns an office building on Stadium Drive, said the widening is long overdue. "It needs some relief," she said. "It's always backed up - especially at U.S. 301."

The city and county are splitting the cost of the route and pond study, but there currently is no funding approved for design or construction, which likely wouldn't start for at least three years.

Sharol Laws is one of several residents of Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park. She liked the plan, especially the addition of the sidewalks and multipurpose trail. But her neighbors worried that the addition of a median would make it difficult to access the neighborhood.
Pasco County also plans to widen the road west of Gall as part of its Zephyrhills Bypass, but that project isn't scheduled for construction for at least a decade.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844.

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