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New ramps coming for State Road 56

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Commuters passing through the junction of Interstates 75 and 275 may have noticed something missing recently.

The state Department of Transportation has been busy clearing acres of trees and other vegetation as it prepares to build two new off-ramps for traffic destined for State Road 56.

The $30 million project began Oct. 17 and will finish in 2012, according to DOT spokesman John
McShaffrey.

When the project is finished, drivers coming north on either highway will be able to get on ramps that carry them directly to S.R. 56.

According to the latest DOT traffic counts, more than 113,000 cars pass through the I-75/275 interchange every day. Counts are divided evenly between northbound and southbound traffic.

For those 56,000 drivers coming north, the DOT's ramp project aims to eliminate the nerve-wracking, multilane merger drivers coming north on I-75 must make across traffic coming north on I-275 to reach the S.R. 56 exit.

That merger is a nightly ritual for thousands of people in east Pasco and New Tampa who commute north from jobs in Hillsborough County.

Last year, Pasco County traffic officials counted 101 crashes, two of them fatal, at the junction of I-75 and S.R. 56. Another 18 people were injured in those crashes, records show.

Crash figures for 2009 aren't available yet.

The situation at the junction is likely to get worse in 2010 when Pasco officials begin widening State Road 54 between the interstate and Curley Road.

Traffic coming from the Zephyrhills area will be re-routed through Meadow Pointe to S.R. 56 to reach I-75. That means thousands of additional cars will be weaving their way through the junction.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 731-8168.

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