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Widening Bids Way Under Budget

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: March 6, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Cost estimates for widening Bruce B. Downs Boulevard have dropped by two-thirds in the past two years.

Crown Communities received two bids on the project, both less than $13 million, said Craig Weber, who is overseeing the development of the Seven Oaks community. Those bids were a little more than a third of the $36 million Crown expected to spend on the road when it began planning for the project in 2007.

The developer met with contractors Thursday to review bids for the project.

Construction could start by the end of the month.

Weber has said in the past that work on Bruce B. Downs would start at State Road 54 and move south, then jump to County Line Road and head north. Crews would finish the road by tying the new lanes into the intersection with State Road 56. The exact construction schedule will depend on the contractor, Weber said Wednesday.

The developer of Seven Oaks is required to widen Bruce B. Downs to six lanes as part of its 2000 development deal with Pasco County.
County officials briefly shut down development at Seven Oaks in 2007 after the developer fell behind on its widening schedule. The work was supposed to have been finished by late 2007 but was delayed, in part, by skyrocketing costs during the housing boom.

As with other road projects, the housing collapse has created more competition among work-starved contractors, leading to lower prices.

Work on Bruce B. Downs was also delayed by the construction of S.R. 56 eastward into Wiregrass Ranch. That work is expected to open at Mansfield Boulevard in a few months.

When both projects end, the intersection of Bruce B. Downs and S.R. 56 will have 10 lanes on each leg, making it one of the biggest intersections in the country.

Formerly a "road to nowhere" leading north from Hillsborough County, Bruce B. Downs now separates to gargantuan developments - Seven Oaks to the west and Wiregrass Ranch to the east. When finished, both projects combined could have nearly 20,000 homes and more than 60,000 residents.

The road is now home to a major new shopping center, the Shops at Wiregrass, and will soon carry traffic to and from a new hospital.

About 22,000 cars a day use Bruce B. Downs between S.R. 56 and S.R. 54, according to state Department of Transportation estimates.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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