Research by Joel Provenzano
Now that the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOC) has voted unanimously (on Oct. 10) to award the nearly $22-million contract to widen a 1.33-mile-long segment of Old Pasco Rd. from north of Deedra Dr. to north of Overpass Rd., the contractor — B.R.W. Contractors — has 600 days to complete the project, which means that this first phase of a planned three-phase widening of Old Pasco Rd is not expected to be completed until June 2025.
The first phase of the widening is actually the middle portion of the seven-mile-long Old Pasco Rd. corridor, which connects Wesley Chapel Blvd./C.R. 54 to S.R. 52 in San Antonio.
Rooker Properties, LLC, which is developing the North Tampa Bay 75 Industrial Park (see rendering below) — an 800,000+ sq- ft. warehouse project in four buildings, of which the first 187,000-sq.-ft. building has been completed — has provided up to 84 feet of right-of-way (R/W) from the southern end of its property (north of Deedra Dr., closer to Sonny Dr.) for the project.
Pasco had previously said that no certificates of occupancy could be given to the Rooker development until this segment of Old Pasco Rd. was widened, but the BOC lifted that requirement by unanimous vote in March of this year because the project was already designed, funded and required no R/W acquisition. In addition, a temporary access plan will be used to allow vehicles to safely enter and leave the industrial park when the widening project begins.
B.R.W. Contractors was one of five contractors to bid on the project after the county put the contract out for bids in June.
As part of the contract, the traffic signal at Old Pasco Rd. and Overpass Rd. will be improved, and additional traffic signals will be installed at Lindenhurst Dr. and at one of the access points to the industrial park.
Under the terms of the first segment’s contract, this portion of Old Pasco Rd. will be widened from two lanes to four, with 12-foot-wide lanes, a 22-foot-wide raised median and 5-foot-wide bike lanes on both sides of the roadway.
The planned second phase of the project, which has been designed and is funded by the county in fiscal year 2027, will widen Old Pasco Rd. from the southern terminus of the current phase (north of Deedra Dr.) to north of Wesley Chapel Blvd.
Pasco currently does not have funding in place, nor has it acquired all of the needed R/W, to widen Old Pasco Rd. from north of Overpass Rd. to S.R. 52. That segment includes Cypress Creek Middle & High Schools and the Pasco Hernando State College Instructional Performing Arts Center.
So, the widening of the first segment getting under way, it will take several more years before the full length of Old Pasco Rd. can be widened.
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