Drop Costly Road Project Through Wilderness Tract

Pasco County commissioners Tuesday should - at long last - kill the Ridge Road extension boondoggle. Doing so would benefit taxpayers and the environment.

For more than 20 years the county has envisioned extending the New Port Richey-area road through pristine wilderness to U.S. 41 in Land O' Lakes. And despite years of review, the project still remains in limbo, and taxpayers are being taken to the cleaners.

Hurricane evacuation and providing a more direct route to central Pasco are the purported reasons for the road, but county officials conveniently ignore the enormous financial and environmental costs.

The most outrageous aspect of the extension is that it would carve through the state-owned Serenova Preserve, 6,500 acres of fragile ecosystems, aquifer recharge areas and endangered wildlife, including scrub jays and wood storks.

The Serenova is a jewel designated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as an aquatic resource of national importance. In a sea of urban development, the tract offers the public a beautiful refuge and outdoor recreation opportunities. It should be preserved in its present state.

That the opportunity exists for Pasco County to ram a road through this land illustrates much about government's loopy decision-making.

The state purchased the Serenova, once targeted for major development, for $18.5 million in 1996 to mitigate environmental destruction later caused by construction of the Suncoast Parkway. As part of the purchase, state officials foolishly agreed to the extension, as well as an interchange for the parkway. This is contradictory to the purpose of mitigation.

Now, as part of the state and federal regulatory process to gain approval for extending Ridge Road, Pasco is required to mitigate the project's damage by purchasing yet more land for preservation. This type of revolving-door regulation is an affront to taxpayers.

Of equal concern is the increasing cost of the project. It's a money pit - or, as Commissioner Pat Mulieri said last year, a "black hole."

The plans have been under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a decade, with frequent negotiations. The county has spent well over $4 million in design, consultant and legal fees - $240,000 to a well-connected lawyer alone - and still doesn't have all the permits needed for construction. It shouldn't obtain the Corps permit, either, as long as that agency does its job.

Tuesday, commissioners will be asked to pony up yet more, this time for the design of a wildlife crossing bridge, among other work, and additional legal fees. Total amount being sought: $487,000. What a waste.

The county can make much better use of the $120 million allocated for the project by expediting the widening of traffic-choked State/County Road 54 from Wesley Chapel to Zephyrhills, as well as expanding stretches of U.S. 41 and State Road 52 that also are clogged with traffic.

Granted, there may be a need for an additional east-west route in Pasco, but other alternatives should be pursued. Commissioners should stop throwing good money after bad and have the courage to erase this irresponsible project from the county's maps.