Economy may stall plans for Citrus Park Drive extension, Lutz-Lake Fern Road widening

By Rodney Thrash, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, May 1, 2009

If you want quicker access to Westfield Citrus Park mall or relief along Lutz-Lake Fern Road, you may have to wait.

Hillsborough County commissioners said last week that they may pump the brakes on more than $300 million in road and construction projects, including the $67 million Citrus Park Drive extension and the $68 million Lutz-Lake Fern Road widening.

"I mean honestly, it's been teetering for so long," said Donna Suchocki, who lives on Lutz-Lake Fern Road. "I just feel do it or don't do it. The fact that they are putting it on the back burner is just prolonging the agony."

Just 21 months ago, county commissioners approved a half-billion-dollar package to fast-track a bevy of improvements.

Using borrowed funds and money from future sales tax collections, the county planned to extend Citrus Park Drive from Sheldon Road to Countryway Boulevard, and widen Lutz-Lake Fern Road from two to four lanes.

Now they are on a tentative list of projects that could be shelved. A decision won't come until September, but the county began circulating the list during an April 22 budget workshop.

Commission chairman Ken Hagan, who leads the county transportation task force that won approval for the $500 million package, said economic forces are to blame for the turn of events. The forecast for potential sales tax revenue has been "dramatically reduced," he said.

And in April, Moody's Investors Service placed all city and county governments in the United States on negative credit watch. Hillsborough could see a downgrade in its credit rating, which would affect the rate at which the county could borrow money.

"I'm disappointed, but we're in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, and the budget challenges that we are facing are extreme and going to be difficult to deal with," Hagan said. "This is really the first in a series of changes that we're going to experience. You're going to see very, very dramatic reductions in the way that we operate."

So how did two of northern Hillsborough's long-discussed road projects end up on the list?

"Primarily, we were looking for big-ticket items," said Mike Merrill, the county's utility and commerce administrator. "The bigger-denominated projects make it easier to get where you need to be."

The county was going to pony up $63 million for Citrus Park Drive and $38.8 million for Lutz-Lake Fern Road between the Suncoast Parkway and Dale Mabry Highway.

Currently, Citrus Park Drive connects with Gunn Highway just west of the Veterans Expressway, runs south of Westfield Citrus Park mall and stops at a patch of trees on Sheldon Road.

It picks back up just east of Deer Park Elementary, then ends at Countryway Boulevard.

To get to either side of Citrus Park Drive, commuters must drive through busy side streets such as Linebaugh Avenue or S Mobley Road.

A 2.82-mile extension would take cars off those streets and give commuters direct access to the mall, the Veterans Expressway, and shops and restaurants.

But the four-lane road would also pass by Deer Park and through five residential developments — Key West Circle, Mandolin Reserve, Mandolin Estates, Windsor Place and Fawn Ridge.

"It's a blessing if it's delayed," said Barbara Dawes, head of the Fawn Ridge Transportation Task Force, a group that wants the extension as far from homes as possible. "And it's a huge reprieve for the wetlands. The impact of Citrus Park Drive was going to be substantial, so for it to be delayed is definitely good for us."

Without the extension, the county predicts Linebaugh traffic will slow to a snarl by 2015.

Like Fawn Ridge homeowners, Lutz residents aren't thrilled about changes to Lutz-Lake Fern Road. They know that the widening is necessary with the new Steinbrenner High set to debut in August. It is estimated that 1,225 new vehicles will be added to the already-clogged road when the school opens.

"We're all dreading it," Suchocki said. "It's hard enough to get on the road as it is. When they widen it, it's going to be that much more difficult to get out onto traffic that's going 40 to 60 miles an hour."

Hagan, whose district includes Citrus Park and Lutz, said he plans to do all he can to ensure there's as little disruption to the projects as possible.

Design of the Citrus Park Drive extension, for example, is nearly 90 percent complete, said project manager Ben Kniesly.

Hagan said the county could include it and the widening in a transportation referendum commissioners will consider in the fall. The board may ask voters to approve a penny sales tax to boost the stalled projects.

"Lutz-Lake Fern and Citrus Park," Hagan said, "are my top two priorities."

Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5303.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/transportation/roads/article996537.ece

EDIT, wrong thread.

EDIT

We cut back, so they're curbing road spending

Rich Shopes Rich Shopes

rshopes@tampatrib.com rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: May 18, 2009

Save our roads: Drive a Hummer.

Because more folks are driving fuel-efficient cars and spending less at the pump, gas taxes are plunging.

So what sounds like an obnoxious bumper sticker contains some truth if you're wedded to roads.

This greening of our commute translates into less gas tax revenue, and gas taxes are the lifeblood of state road projects.

Consider the connector project linking Interstate 4 and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway. If it wasn't for stimulus funding, that project wouldn't start for two or three years.

Now comes word about how lower gas tax revenue is costing us congestion relief. The Department of Transportation's local office is looking at deferring nearly $20 million worth of road projects.

In east Hillsborough County, for example, the state planned to widen Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to four lanes between Kingsway and McIntosh roads. Design work was set to start in two years, but now that won't happen until 2013.

Another design phase is getting its wings clipped in north Hillsborough. Planners were talking about widening Dale Mabry Highway with two frontage roads between Van Dyke and Lutz-Lake Fern roads.

About $5.5 million worth of design work was set to unfurl in 2014. Now about $3.5 million of that total is getting shelved.

Declining gas tax revenue isn't the only culprit, but it's a biggie.

Until we find another way to pay for roads, stop in at your local Hummer dealer - assuming GM hasn't shut it down.

Fired up? Visit this site

Has congestion got you talking to yourself or flinging obscenities? Do you feel like no one wants to hear it?

Well, Transportation For America wants to hear your commuting stories so it can pass them along to Congress, which is taking up a transportation funding bill this year.

The think tank, which promotes alternatives to the traditional build-more-roads-now theory, has launched a Web site: www.MyCommuteSucks .org.

"Ultimately, there needs to be more funding for transportation," spokesman David Goldberg said. "But before we can ask the American people for more money, there needs to be reform."

Goldberg invites folks to chronicle their commuting nightmares on the site before shipping them off to Congress.

Note: The site's "comment box" wasn't working Sunday, so you might have to hold that frustration in a little longer.

Slow going on Bruce B. Downs

Driving on Bruce B. Downs will take more patience than usual this week. Intermittent closures are set for northbound and southbound inside lanes between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Friday. Workers will be installing conduit for Verizon.

Orient Road mystery solved

Ron Ryden of Tampa recently wrote to ask why workers are diverting northbound traffic on Orient Road to a turning lane at East Broadway, forcing traffic to merge, and when they'll be finished.

The county says a contractor for Verizon is installing conduit. Work at that intersection, which involves lane closures between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., could last through September.

Got a traffic gripe? Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/may/18/na-we-cut-back-so-theyre-curbing-road-spending/news-metro/

Well golly gee, what a surprise!

I wonder if this happens to be why a bunch of us howled about raising the gas tax in the fall and winter, while gas prices are still relatively low, and people could most easily weather an obviously necessary increase. (I still favor raising gas taxes by quite a lot)

Lol!

I disagree Jason, I think we should add a fee when registering cars or something like that. It's bad to mess with something that changes all the time.

We should be doing both.

Not really, I think people would take more kindly to something they know they aren't getting screwed in the ass on. People were getting very pissed when gas was at $4/gallon, I personally think political influence persuaded the prices to go lower before the election. Either way it's easier to tax something that stays constant, better image and everything.

Many transportation projects in funding limbo
Sunday, July 26, 2009

PINELLAS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- Several transportation projects were supposed to get underway with the help of federal stimulus money, but so far, most of those projects remain in limbo.

The section of U.S. 19 near Gulf to Bay Boulevard is on the list to get some stimulus help, but the work will not start for four months. The elevated roadway connecting Interstate 4 with the Crosstown Expressway isn't scheduled to start for nine months.

According to Bay News 9's partner paper, the St. Petersburg Times, projects like these can be found all across Florida.

Statewide there are 521 road projects approved for federal funds, but so far none of them have started. In addition, construction contracts have been awarded for only nine projects.

Officials say there are several reasons for the delay. One is that government agencies had no authority to spend the money until April 15, when the state legislature gave its approval.

In addition, the projects must still go through the advertising and bidding process. Finally, the federal funds are not spent until the contractor sends the state an invoice, which is then sent to the federal government.

One project, the widening of U.S. 41 in Pasco County, will get underway next month. The contractor responsible for that work said the money will not result in new hirings as much as it will prevent the company from laying off the people who already work for it.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2009/7/26/500895.html?title=Many+transportation+projects+in+funding+limbo