Scott vetoes money for Overpass Rd./I-75

Florida Governor Rick Scott wielded his veto pen earlier this month in a state budget deal with legislative leaders and, in the process, crossed off a number of Pasco County projects, included the proposed new interchange at I-75 and Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel.

Scott vetoed $15 million for the proposed planned exit for Overpass Rd., approximately halfway between the S.R. 54 (in Wesley Chapel) and S.R. 52 (in San Antonio) exits.

In all, Scott knocked $22 million in Pasco County projects out of the $83 billion state budget for 2018.

The Governor also vetoed more than $400 million in local projects statewide.

The I-75/Overpass Rd. interchange is located in a rapidly developing sector that includes the new Cypress Creek Middle/High School, new housing developments and Metro Development’s “Connected City” corridor, which is a 7,800-acre  behemoth running north from Overpass Rd. in Wesley Chapel to S.R. 52 in San Antonio, and east from I-75 to Curley Rd.

The interchange was being counted on to help ease traffic at the congested interchanges at S.R.s 52 and 54 by providing another east-west option for travelers. It also was expected to improve the safety conditions on the surrounding state roads, and improve emergency evacuation and response times with the county.

Overpass Rd. is currently an east-west roadway that runs 0.86 miles from Old Pasco Rd. east to Boyette Rd. Overpass Rd. crosses over I-75 but without any connections to the interstate, between S.R.s 52 and 54.

The interchange also is part of a larger project to extend Overpass Rd. nine miles from its current eastern terminus at Boyette all the way to Hwy. 301 in Zephyrhills.

The interchange was identified in the 2009 Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)’s Transportation Update Plan (through 2035) “Needs Plan.” That plan scheduled the new interchange, extension and expansion of Overpass Rd. to be completed by 2020.

The interchange also was expected to ease some of the traffic concerns on and around Old Pasco Rd., which already is a hotbed of construction, with Cypress Creek Middle/High opening this fall, the Quail Hollow community possibly adding 400 new homes to replace the existing golf course and, closer to S.R. 54, 264 new multi-family units in the Arbours at Saddle Oaks.