Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pasco News

Suncoast Pasco > News

Pasco Stretching Scarce Road Dollars

By Carl Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: July 23, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY -- With revenues declining, county leaders had to go the extra mile to stretch dollars for road construction projects in the next five years.

Pasco charges impact fees on new homes to help pay for road projects.

But building permits have plummeted because of the housing market collapse, County Administrator John Gallagher recently told county commissioners.

Economists had predicted Pasco County might issue 5,000 building permits this fiscal year. Instead, the actual number hovers at about 1,200 with a little more than two months remaining in the fiscal year, Gallagher observes.

Fewer building permits translate into less revenue from road impact fees.

"It really shrinks our road list," Gallagher commented about roads the county can afford to build.

The good news is that bid prices from contractors are dropping, Gallagher said. The costs for some materials have gone up, such as asphalt which is derived from oil.

Nonetheless, contractors are keeping a lid on bids because of increased competition.

The big pothole in road plans, though, will be the prices the county winds up paying to buy land to make room for road improvements, Gallagher observed.

If an owner of a parcel doesn't want to sell, the county can resort to condemnation procedures through courts, a long and costly process.

Some of the major changes in priorities will delay the Ridge Road extension to the Suncoast Parkway by three years to fiscal year 2012.

Improvements to the two-lane Shady Hills Road, north of S.R. 52, has vanished from the five-year plan.

A joint project to redesign U.S. 19 medians, however, has moved up one year to fiscal year 2010.

Perrine Ranch Road intersections at Grand Boulevard and Seven Springs Boulevard might get improvements a year sooner, now set to be completed by September 2011.

Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.

Share this: