Just a day after Pasco County’s organization of homeowners associations rejected plans for an elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor, another group has come out against it.
The Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, whose office is just blocks from where such a road project would go through in Land O’ Lakes, has given a thumbs down to the potential $2.2 billion private proposal from International Infrastructure Partners.
“While the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce supports planned growth and economic development, we are opposed to the (State Road) 54/56 managed lanes initiative (elevated toll road) as it will have a severe negative impact on all area businesses and our community,” the board of directors stated in a release.
The chamber said it formed a study committee after it was approached by some 400 of its members to look into the 33-mile project that would extend from U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills to U.S. 19 in New Port Richey. The committee concluded it was against the project, and requested Pasco County, the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority provide information so that residents can make more informed decisions.
Part of what they asked for included all the studies relating to the corridor, and supporting documents that “justify why and how the managed lanes concept is the ‘only viable option,’ according to county officials. The group also wants all transportation and traffic studies for the region for the past 10 years, including studies on State Road 54, State Road 52 and Ridge Road, as well as the continuation of the Veterans Expressway east of Dale Mabry Highway in Hillsborough County.
The Pasco Alliance of Community Associations earlier this week also rejected the elevated road concept, saying it would negatively effect many of its 60,000 residents who live along the corridor.
