Pasco BOCC Votes To Continue To Study S.R. 54/56 Elevated Road Possibility

By Matt Wiley

After receiving unanimous approval from the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Dec. 3, the county will continue to study whether or not an elevated toll road that would connect eastern and western Pasco County can help solve one of the county’s biggest traffic issues. The BOCC voted unanimously to approve a resolution to continue to consider the possibility of an elevated toll way that would connect New Port Richey at U.S. 19 to Wesley Chapel at Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. by expanding the S.R. 54/S.R. 56 corridor.

The vote came at the request of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which wanted the BOCC’s continued support for the project, which was proposed as a private-sector-only project because FDOT had received an unsolicited bid in June from International Infrastructure Partners (IIP), LLC (a group of investors and infrastructure construction companies), to lease right-of-way along the corridor in order to design, fund, build, operate and maintain an elevated toll-lane system that would span more than 33 miles across the county.

That group has since withdrawn its bid, citing an unfavorable political climate and the possible need for bus lanes, which hadn’t been factored into the original bid.

“Given these reasons and the anticipated additional cost to build (the project), IIP and its partners need more time and clarity from all parties affected, as well as those parties that will benefit from our proposal,” wrote IIP partner Wayne A. Middleton, CPA.

IIP requested an extension for the proposal period, which was extended to Dec. 9, but that date was after we went to press with this issue.

“(FDOT) received (the IIP proposal) as an unsolicited bid,” said FDOT spokesperson Kris Carson. “Before moving forward with the project, especially given the discussion following the Urban Land Institute (ULI) report (see below) and knowing the county had previously supported this concept, it is crucial to know whether our transportation partner, Pasco County, still supports (the construction of) an elevated toll road.”

Pasco County’s website says that the ULI report was a study done by a group of panelists composed of economic development, land use, real estate development and public and private experts from around the world, who volunteer their time to help communities solve difficult development or related public policy problems. The group spent a week studying the county and advised against the elevated road project in its initial report. The final ULI report is not yet available.

Commissioners debated before moving for a vote. District 3 commissioner Kathryn Starkey expressed concern about the economic ramifications of not getting traffic moving along the corridor.

“We have to move our traffic,” Starkey said, “or businesses are not going to want to come here.”

District 5 commissioner and Board chair Jack Mariano stated that although he was not initially a supporter of the elevated road plan, he thinks the county should continue to consider it as a possible solution to the corridor’s traffic woes.

“(The elevated lanes) look better than 8-10 lanes across (S.R. 54),” Mariano said at the Dec. 3 BOCC meeting. “(Pasco County is) the solution. It’s not down south. Maybe this (plan) isn’t the exact solution, but it’s worth looking at.”

In addition to continuing to study elevated lanes as a traffic solution, Comm. Starkey expressed interest in visiting similar elevated toll road projects around the state (such as the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, which connects Brandon to downtown Tampa, Macdill AFB and Pinellas County) to get a better idea of what an elevated lane project of that magnitude could look like in Pasco.

“You see the pretty pictures, but would you want to live near (the structure)?,” District 1 Comm. Ted Schrader asked the Board prior to the Dec. 3 vote that a vote in favor doesn’t necessarily mean that the BOCC supports the project being built, only that the commissioners support continuing to study it.