Delays with I-75 and SR 56 interchange project rile Pasco commissioners

MSN ^ | October 30, 2020 | Barbara Behrendt, Tampa Bay Times

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

WESLEY CHAPEL — Over the last several years, the developers of the Cypress Creek Town Center have spent $25 million for road improvements in the fast growing State Road 56 corridor near the Interstate 75 interchange. Other nearby businesses have also paid their share.

But for those who traverse the area regularly, the months-long delays in promised improvements at that interchange, the so-called diverging diamond, have meant ongoing congestion with no end in sight.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Mike Moore knows this well, since he travels the road daily. Prompted by a letter from merchants frustrated with road work delays, he took off on contractor D.A.B. Constructors, Inc. at the last commission meeting.

Moore snapped photos of the construction zone that week, saying that he saw only a handful of workers on a sunny, pleasant day, which was not acceptable for a project so badly-needed and significantly behind schedule.

Moore said the state has agreed to not give D.A.B. Constructors future work, and he asked if the county could take a similar stand in future local road projects.

“I’m glad they stopped giving this contractor contracts,” Moore said, noting it was the first time he has ever heard of the state doing that. “They have so many projects going on now they cannot handle it.”

State officials wouldn’t say they stopped handing out future work to the contractor, but spokeswoman Kristen Carson said, “D.A.B. has committed to focus on their current projects as opposed to upcoming projects.”

Currently, D.A.B. has 11 ongoing construction projects with the Department of Transportation, totaling $281 million. The contract for the State Road 56 and Interstate 75 interchange is $33 million.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[rstrahan]

This is endemic in Florida road construction, not just this contractor. A short road widening that should take a few months can extend to years. Contracts are written with no ‘feet to the fire’ penalties.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Looks to be I-75 Tampa area.

[FreedomPoster]

Here it is:

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.1940103,-82.3829078,867m/data=!3m1!1e3

[ConservativeMind]

This is NOT an MSN report.

Real link, here: https://www.tampabay.com/news/pasco/2020/10/30/delays-with-i-75-and-sr-56-interchange-project-rile-pasco-commissioners/

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

That’s why I included Tampa Bay Times in the author field, just like the original article did.

[offduty]

A few miles north of the I-75 and I-4 interchange.

There has been an explosion of growth in the Wesley Chapel area. The “exit” for SR 56 is probably over a mile long. There are multiple turn lanes to the left which then proceed over a bridge over I-75. It doesn’t matter what time of day or what day it is, traffic is always backed up at that interchange.

It doesn’t help that SR-54 (next NB exit) routes itself back to and dumps into SR-56/54. SR-56 becomes SR-54 at that juncture and continues east to US-19.

I normally get off I-75 at SR 52 if NB or SR-50 if southbound. The whole area is undergoing tremendous growth. SR-50 was widened into multi lanes from I-75 to US-19 and now SR-52 is going through the same transition.

I’ve been going to the area for over 40 years and I remember when SR-50 was 2-lane and routed you through downtown Brooksville to get to US-19. Now most of the roads that traverse EB from 75 to 19 are multi-lane and loaded with commercial ventures.