Transportation Efforts Taking Shape

David Gwynn, FDOT District 7 secretary, says improvements are on the way.

Although traffic and congestion are part of daily life for those driving around Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, getting out of the area is only the beginning of what can be a long and teeth-gnashing chore for area commuters.

For folks heading to work in Tampa or St. Petersburg, once the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd./S.R. 56/S.R. 54 maze is completed, it’s onto the local interstates, which offer their own headaches.

But, there are efforts now ongoing to change that.

David Gwynn, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 7 secretary of transportation, who spoke at the June 2 North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, provided some promising updates about a host of road improvements FDOT currently is working on or has planned that will have an effect on traffic faced by Wesley Chapel drivers.

“We’ve got some big projects going on,” Gwynn said, adding that one of the biggest challenges at the moment is finding enough contractors to do all the work at reasonable prices, due to a bustling economy.

“We’re probably taxing the construction industry,” he said. “That’s probably the thing we worry about the most.”

Locally, Gwynn said the roadwork that will impact travel around Wesley Chapel is the work on east-west roads like S.R. 56 (which is being extended), S.R. 54 (which is being widened) and S.R. 52 (which is being extended).

“There’s a lot of demand to go east-west,” Gwynn told the Chamber members. “Right now, getting from US 301 to I-75 isn’t that easy. These will provide new corridors to connect it and will probably provide the biggest benefit of all.”

Gwynn also said that the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) at the S.R. 56 exit of I-75 and the planned (and finally funded) Overpass Rd. interchange between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits will ease traffic immeasurably.

Outside Of The Area, But…

Notably for local commuters heading to work, improvements are coming to two major Tampa trouble spots — the north- and southbound exit lanes at I-4 and I-75 and the stretch of I-275 from Bearss Ave. to the 275/I-4 interchange, better known as “malfunction junction.”

While the I-75 project  is well under way — in fact, the northbound ramp from I-4 to I-75 already has been completed — the enhancements on I-275 are still only in the planning stages, but cleared a major hurdle on June 11, when, after a five-hour debate, the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted 11-5 to keep the project in its 5-year transportation plan.

The leading proposal to fix the congestion problem is to transform I-275 from three lanes in each direction between Bearss Ave. (and the interchange at I-4) to four lanes while “hardening” the shoulder for emergency vehicles and buses. The project also would include enhancements at malfunction junction.

The I-275 proposal continues to draw strong opposition from many Seminole Heights and Ybor City residents, who favor a no-build alternative and an emphasis on mass transit solutions.

However, the Tampa Bay Partnership, a privately-funded business-driven advocacy group dedicated to solving Tampa Bay’s most pressing challenges, commissioned a survey in mid-May of 400 Hillsborough County residents, and the results showed that 84 percent (with a reported margin of error of only 5 percent) of those surveyed were in favor of widening I-275.

Traffic congestion (43 percent) and meeting the future growth needs of the area (34 percent) were the primary reasons given for the support.

And, while opponents prefer a number of different transit options, the Tampa Bay Partnership survey showed that 79 percent of those polled believe that a balance of transit and interstate improvement options is the best way to create a better transportation system.

The I-275 project already has $80-million allocated for it, and that money would have been lost if the vote had gone the other way. Funding still needs to be secured for the full cost of the project, which is $400 million total, before it can proceed.

Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners wrote a letter, signed by all five commissioners, to Hillsborough MPO chairman Les Miller voicing support prior to the vote, stating that, “Adding these general use lanes is an important priority to help the flow of people and commerce throughout our region.”

The letter from the Pasco BOC also stated that not moving forward with the I-275 plan would hurt the proposed Bus Rapid Transit project that would connect Wesley Chapel to Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Both the I-275 and I-75 projects could substantially improve drive times for Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents who work in south Tampa or even St. Pete — or for anyone trying to get to Tampa International Airport.

The biggest current FDOT project, by far, is replacing the existing Howard Frankland Bridge, which alone will cost $800 million. For those who work in St. Petersburg, the drive back to Pasco takes more than an hour at rush hour, and a lot of that time is often spent in that seemingly-never-moving traffic on that bridge.

Another project that would speed the commute along I-275 is one being proposed to fix the Westshore Blvd. interchange, which Gwynn says is FDOT’s No. 1 unfunded priority. A public workshop was recently held, with a public hearing scheduled for January of 2020.

Southbound I-75 will have a longer ramp to I-4 soon. (Photo: Aerial Innovations, Inc.)

The I-75 southbound interchange improvement at I-4 (see picture, top right) is well under way and will help relieve a bottleneck all too familiar to Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents who make the drive to Tampa or Orlando.

The project is relocating the exit point to I-4 roughly one mile to the north, which will create a 1.25-mile-long, two-lane ramp separated from the mainline travel lanes by a guardrail. The new two-lane ramp will split at the current ramp location, with lanes going east and west onto I-4.

Drivers will no longer be able to dive into the current exit lane off southbound I-75 onto I-4 at the last second, eliminating that decision point.

Work on the northbound entrance to I-75 was completed last year, joining the two ramps into one two-lane ramp that is separated from the mainline travel lanes until merging into a single lane and entering I-75 on a new, long auxiliary lane, according to the FDOT website. That project cost $18.4 million.

“To be honest, there is never enough money to solve all the issues out there, so we try to hit the critical ones first,” Gwynn told the Chamber members at the breakfast. “We’re never going to catch up or make it congestion-free, but we try to do our best to provide enough corridors that hopefully it won’t be horrible.”

Roads, Roads and More Roads!

Florida Department of Transportation officials used matchbox cars to demonstrate how the diverging diamond interchange at I-75/S.R 56 will work. 

S.R. 54 is being widened, SR. 56 is being extended, and the intersection of I-75 and S.R. 56 is being fixed with a futuristic diverging diamond interchange, or DDI. 

All at the same time.

It’s part of an expensive game of catch-up for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as it tries, mostly in vain, to accomplish the impossible task of keeping up with Wesley Chapel’s rapid and no-end-in-sight development with $134.7-million worth of road projects.

Roughly a dozen officials from FDOT held a public information meeting Feb. 26 at Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC)’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch to provide an update on its progress with videos, large poster board layouts of the projects and even Matchbox cars to show how the flow of traffic will work in the DDI.

“The area is changing quicker than the roadway network is, as you can see,” says FDOT spokesperson John McShaffrey. “We’re just doing these projects to manage the traffic that we already have. It’s obviously going to help, but the area is going to keep growing, too. These projects won’t be the end of work in this part of Pasco County at all.”

The $33-million diverging diamond, considered the (pardon the pun) gem of the three projects, is what Wesley Chapel retirees Dan and Judy Whaley came to see. Dan says they left with a better understanding of how it will work.

“Once you look at it closely, it makes sense,” he said.

The Whaleys say the DDI, which will help ease congestion from C.R. 54 west of I-75 to Cypress Ridge Blvd. to the east of I-75, is much needed. The thought of driving along S.R. 56 on either side of the interstate is rarely one they entertain, which means fewer trips to the plethora of retail stores and restaurants in the area.

“Only when we have to,” Dan said.

The DDI, scheduled for completion in late 2021, will create more continuous green time through the intersection for traffic, and is expected to clear up one of the hot spots for backed up traffic in Wesley Chapel – the northbound exit ramp off I-75.

“It will clear that queue and reduce it down hugely, so you won’t see that two-mile back up anymore,” says Ryan Forrestel, PE of American Consulting Professionals, LLC.

Extending S.R. 56

At the other (eastern) end of S.R. 56, a much-simpler six-mile extension is being constructed from Meadow Pointe Blvd. to U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills.

That project is taking place over undeveloped land, and doesn’t have to worry about working around traffic, businesses or homes. However, it has had its own issues, as damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017 delayed the project for weeks and rainy weather has saturated the area east of Morris Bridge Rd.

“The ground is soggy out here,” says Mike Kopotic, construction manager of the CEI office, “but you have to remember this all used to be cattle fields.”

The extension of S.R. 56 from where it currently ends at Meadow Pointe Blvd. to U.S. Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills was another topic of discussion at the FDOT Open House.

The extension will be two lanes in each direction, with a multi-use path on the south side and a sidewalk on the north side.

Travelers using Morris Bridge Rd. already can see what looks like a mostly completed extension to the west, while the eastern view is still a work in progress.

Kopotic says the extension, which has a $59.2-million price tag, is expected to be completed by the fall.

S.R. 54 Widening Continues

Just a little further north, the widening of S.R. 54 from east of Curley Rd. to just east of Morris Bridge Rd. is in progress. “It has been a long time in the making,” says Pasco’s S.R. 54 project manager Richard Frank.

Originally, plans were made in 2010 (after roughly a decade of discussions) for a four-lane Zephyrhills Bypass Extension, which would begin just east of Curley Rd. and run along the northern edge of the New River Development of Regional Impact (DRI) and what is now Avalon Park West, before connecting to Eiland Blvd., where Wesley Chapel meets Zephyrhills. The proposed bypass would have relieved traffic on S.R. 54, but those plans were placed on hold in favor of getting S.R. 56 built.

“It will eventually connect to Eiland Blvd.,” Frank says. “The developer or county will develop it. In the meantime, something has to happen out there and that is what this job does.”

S.R. 54 will go from its current two lanes to four lanes, with intermittent dedicated turn lanes, as well as a number of safety improvements, such as limiting left turns out of side streets like Foxwood Blvd., which has been the site of numerous accidents.

Frank says the $42.5-million project will prove to be a lot more than just widening of a 4.5-mile stretch of road.

“We are moving every single utility that’s out there, too,” he said. “Power, water, sewer, fiber optics and your communication lines. It’s not like we can just come out there and lay pipe and we’re done. It’s almost more of a reconstruction project than it is a widening. It’s a brand new road.”

Frank says it should be completed in the spring of 2021.

Overnight Closures For Northbound S.R. 56 Exit Ramp From I-275 This Week

The S.R. 56 exit from northbound I-275 will be closed tonight and tomorrow night (November 20) for construction.
The S.R. 56 exit from northbound I-275 will be closed  between 10:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. tonight (September 8) through Thursday night (September 10) for construction.

 

Attention New Tampa & Wesley Chapel drivers, if you’re planning on using the S.R. 56 exit from northbound I-275 tonight, you might want to consider another route.Continue reading

FDOT Presents Express Toll Lane Project At Public Workshop

More than 100 residents from around Tampa Bay attended the Florida Department of Transportation’s public workshop to check out the proposed ‘Tampa Bay Express’ project, that will add express lanes to several sections of Tampa Bay’s interstates.
More than 100 residents from around Tampa Bay attended the Florida Department of Transportation’s public workshop to check out the proposed ‘Tampa Bay Express’ project, that will add express lanes to several sections of Tampa Bay’s interstates.

By Matt Wiley

Attention Wesley Chapel commuters: if you could, would you pay a little extra to avoid snarled interstate traffic on the way to work? The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) hopes so, as it has announced a concept that could add express toll lanes to several of the Tampa Bay area’s most congested interstate highways. One of those express lanes could begin and end just south of Wesley Chapel.Continue reading

FDOT Hosting Public Meeting For Express Lane Project TONIGHT

By Matt Wiley

If you could, would you pay a little extra to avoid snarled interstate traffic on the way to work? The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) hopes so, as it has announced a concept that could add express toll lanes to several of the Tampa Bay area’s most congested interstates. One of those express lanes could begin and end right here in New Tampa and a meeting is being held tonight to gather public comments.Continue reading