Road crews will start work within the next month to construct new turn lanes at Bell Lake Road and Collier Parkway.
County officials say the redesign will ease traffic congestion.
But, area residents are more than a little skeptical that anything short of a traffic light will solve congestion problems.
About 50 people brought their concerns to an Aug. 25 public meeting at the Land O’ Lakes Recreation Center.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photos)
New turn lanes will help, but don’t go far enough, residents said.
“They need a light to go with it,” said Brenda Theisen. “It should be a package deal, not something five years down the road.”
A traffic signal is expected with the widening of Collier, which is part of Pasco County’s five-year transportation plan.
The approximately $534,000 project to adjust the Bell Lake and Collier intersection is set to start in late September or early October, and to be completed by January.
The work will add new left-turn lanes on Collier at Bell Lake, and a right-turn lane on Bell Lake at Collier. Sidewalk and drainage improvements also are planned.
“This will improve traffic operations in this neighborhood,” said Margaret Smith, Pasco County’s engineering services director.
County engineers will review the redesign’s effect on traffic once work is done.
“Every time you put in something new, you monitor it,” Smith said.
Residents at the meeting recounted daily headaches of getting out of their subdivisions as traffic stacks up in both directions on Collier, and on Bell Lake and Whittner Drive.
The worst is during morning rush hour, as motorists navigate left turns onto or off of Collier.
According to county traffic counts, the annual average daily traffic along Collier, near Bell Lake, is about 10,000 vehicles a day.
“At certain times of the day, you can’t get out of your house,” said Howard Rubin. Cars stack up in both directions on Collier, and others wait to turn left from Whittner Drive — which is the only way in and out of Rubin’s subdivision.
Some give up, take a right turn down to Richardson Lane and make a U-turn. Or like Rubin, they wait for a gap and zip across Collier onto Bell Lake. That can be a dangerous choice, Rubin said.
In the mornings and afternoons, a dozen or more Pasco County school buses travel Collier.
There is a school bus stop at Whittner and Collier.
For Bob Castellano, his grandson’s safety is paramount.
“I’m always scared of when he crosses Collier,” he said.
Flashing lights alert motorists to slow down, but Castellano said he sees vehicles speeding through all the time.
A traffic light is what’s needed, residents said.
“This is the dumbest thing they could ever do,” Rubin said, of the plan to install turn lanes without a traffic light.
The intersection work is only the first phase of a Bell Lake makeover.
In early 2016, work will begin to upgrade Bell Lake from U.S. 41 to Alpine Road.
County records peg the cost at about $3.9 million to widen travel lanes and add sidewalks, curbing and drainage.
A second public meeting will be held prior to this second phase to give area residents a preview.
Bell Lake began as a winding two-lane road that dead-ended at Alpine Road to the east, and Banjo Lake Road to the west. The developers of Sable Ridge subdivision built the western segment.
Nearly a decade ago, the county connected the two halves, opening up one of two east-west connections between U.S. 41 and Collier. Hale Road is the other one.
East-west links are often what are missing in Pasco’s traffic pattern, county officials say.
Upgrading Bell Lake offers one more option that could ease some traffic off more major corridors, including State Road 54.
“We’re trying to get the east-west connections,” said Smith. “You try to create grids.”
Published September 2, 2015
