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Commission reverses road plans

The commission votes to scale back its first solution to traffic and safety worries along Perrine Ranch Road.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published February 23, 2005

DADE CITY - The county's plans to widen Perrine Ranch Road have taken a sharp U-turn.

Two weeks after approving a $20-million proposal to widen the 1.3-mile road and add turn lanes at two intersections, the County Commission rescinded the plan Tuesday.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said the project, which would raze six homes and swallow up the back yards of at least a dozen others, simply cost too much for work she wasn't convinced was necessary. At most hours, she said, traffic flows just fine along the two-lane road in southwest Pasco.

After discussing her concerns with county engineers, Hildebrand made the motion Tuesday to reconsider the project.

"I understand your reservations," Commissioner Steve Simon said at the meeting in the historic courthouse in Dade City. "The cost is horrific."

But commissioners agreed that extra turn lanes still are needed at the intersections of Perrine Ranch Road and Grand and Seven Springs boulevards. A scaled-back plan will come back for commission approval March 8 to do just those turn lanes, as well as some street lights and turn lanes into subdivisions along Perrine Ranch Road.

Florida Design Consultants, which evaluated the options for commissioners two weeks ago, estimated the intersection improvements alone would cost $7.6-million. Two homes and one business still would be displaced.

Simon said 87 percent of the car crash injuries along Perrine Ranch Road occurred at the intersections at Grand and Seven Springs boulevards. Improving those crossings with turn lanes and better lighting would address most of the road's problems, he said.

Commissioners would have faced a lengthy - and costly - battle with some residents if they pressed forward with plans to widen the road to four lanes. Several residents already have hired attorneys to fight any attempts to take their land for the road.

Under state law, the county must pay residents' attorneys in condemnation proceedings.

Hildebrand, whose district includes Perrine Ranch Road, also argued the wider road would be a bad fit. Usually the county needs 120 feet of right of way for a four-lane road, she said, but engineers could only scrape together 110 feet along Perrine Ranch Road.

"You're going to be squeezing it in, if you're lucky," she said.

Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 23, 2005, 00:35:16]