Local Businesses Speak Out Against Bruce B. Downs 'Loop Road'

By Matt Wiley

A man stands at a pulpit and speaks to a crowd inside Atonement Lutheran Church on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel. The people in the crowd seem tense and the man speaking makes every effort to reassure them. This isn’t a church service, but the first public meeting about the S.R. 581 (Bruce B. Downs [BBD] Blvd.) “Loop Road,” that could alter the current alignment of BBD approaching S.R. 54. The proposed road also could potentially affect numerous local businesses. 

Lutz-based Johnson Engineering currently is in the middle of a study to determine the best alternative for the Loop Road, which will create a new road that will snake through the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI) behind the new Walmart, continue through Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. and bend north to S.R. 54, just west of Saddlebrook Resort & Spa. In the future, that same road is planned to continue north through S.R. 54.

Four alternatives are being considered and will be presented to the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) sometime in January, Johnson Engineering’s Roy Chapman told the crowd at the meeting, which was held on Sept. 17. Each alternative is a slight variation on a basic route, with minor changes — at least geographically — to the road and the locations of the needed retention ponds.

“We haven’t made a decision on the alternatives, yet,” Chapman said. “No-build also is an option. We’ll take our study back to the BOCC and they’ll take an action on one of the alternatives.”

None of Pasco’s five county commissioners attended the meeting.

Chapman urged the more than 30 residents and business owners in attendance to make sure that they wrote down their comments and concerns for the public record and also to make appearances in front of the BOCC during their public comment periods at their meetings on Tuesday mornings.

“If you see something you like or you don’t like (about the loop road alternatives), write it down and get it to us,” Chapman said. “We want to hear your comments.”

Chapman said that the possible cost of constructing the road has not yet been determined, nor the exact timeframe, but that the cost would be split between the county and the Porter family, which owns and is developing Wiregrass Ranch. A representative for the Porters declined to comment for this story.

“The (Wiregrass developers are) probably going to be the ones doing the design and construction of this (road) in the future, but we don’t know exactly when that will be,” Chapman said. The Porters technically have until 2023 to begin construction on the Loop Road, but Chapman said that he imagines they’ll get started sooner. Either way, he explained, the design of the project would likely take two years after the BOCC makes a decision on the best possible alternative, followed by another two years of construction. He added that the Loop Road would be designed as a six-lane divided roadway.

Two aspects of the project were major areas of contention with the audience. The first was the realignment of BBD about a mile south of S.R. 54, which would create a “Y-intersection,” encouraging drivers to continue east along the Loop Road, as opposed to north on the current BBD. A simple “T-intersection” also is a possibility in each alternative, but those “Ts” are considered to be secondary options for each alignment.

“Does it make sense for the Porters to build a new road to put businesses on, yes,” said Wesley Chapel Toyota owner and Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) award winner David Williams (see page 10). “You’re not considering the businesses that have been here for years (that are located north of the Loop Road) and suffered through recessions.”

Wesley Chapel Nissan general manager Mark Perryman (also a 2015 WCCC award winner) also disagreed with the Loop Road idea. “(Developers are) putting in a project that’s going to draw millions of people to S.R. 56 and I-75, which is great for every business in this room,” Perryman explained. “But, if you’re coming north on I-75 and exit to get to the (Tampa Premium Outlets mall), there’s a bottleneck there every day that’s four or five miles long. People aren’t going to want to come here again. That’s the problem we should be fixing, not putting in this road to put in new businesses to take away from our current businesses.”

Chapman also said that another possibility being considered in the study is potentially removing the northbound BBD left turn onto westbound S.R. 54, to help ease the traffic congestion near the I-75 interchange.

“If you remove that turn lane and then (the Hollybrook Plaza) Publix moves (as it’s planned to go next to Walmart on Wiregrass Ranch Blvd.), you’re pretty much turning on a vacuum and sucking the life out of the businesses that are left there on BBD (at S.R. 54),” said Wesley Chapel Sonny’s BBQ owner (and New Tampa resident) Jim Hoff. “That complex already has access issues. If you take away that left-hand turn, that complex is dead. Closing businesses is the problem that I see.”

Following the presentation, Johnson staff answered individual questions about the posted alternatives emblazoned around the Atonement sanctuary.

“I think this is going to affect a lot of businesses,” Williams said, while speaking with Perryman and this reporter. “It’s not just about Toyota, it’s about all the businesses, the restaurants, the hardware store. Most of our business comes from the south in zip code 33647 (New Tampa) and we want them to be able to keep coming up BBD. We don’t want that detoured.”

He mentioned the likelihood of getting together with other business owners to address the BOCC. 

“Every one of us will,” Perryman said. “(The auto dealerships together) generate $3.5 million in this corridor every month.”

Gary and Joyce Gunter of Gunter & Gunter Insurance, which is located almost in the path of the future leg of the Loop Road north of S.R. 54 in the Westbrook Professional Park, also attended the meeting.

“I think it’s a great idea to have a new road that enhances getting around the area,” Gary Gunter said. “I’m just not thrilled with the first two options because they basically result in the destruction of our office (because of the possible location of one of the retention ponds).”

Saddlebrook chairman and CEO Tom Dempsey said the proposed Loop Road took a lot of people by surprise. 

“It’s an interesting issue that wasn’t planned and has come up in the past couple of years,” Dempsey said after the presentation. “Historically, the BOCC listens very carefully to the public, especially if there are issues that affect people that aren’t in the study. You heard that tonight from business owners. These redirections will hurt their businesses. There’s enough of (the owners) and they seem to be pulling together in a group. It’s an economic issue for their businesses and it’s not in the (Loop Road) study.”

Pasco project manager Christopher Wert, P.E., was in attendance to collect comments from those at the meeting.

“I think tonight went well,” Wert said. “That’s what these meetings are for, to hear from the public.”

Be sure to check out WCNeighborhoodNews.com for the official versions of each Loop Road alternative. Members of the public are encouraged to send their comments about the project to CWert@PascoCountyFL.net.