Local News

Ashes to Go, with a Cup of Joe (2.0)

February 22, 2022 By B.C. Manion

First United Methodist Church of Land O’ Lakes will be hosting “Ashes To Go with a Cup of Joe” on March 2 from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

It’s a repeat of the event the church held last year, to commemorate Ash Wednesday, while at the same time making it convenient for motorists to get to work on time, or go about their busy day.

Pastor Kevin Grills and retired Rev. Barry White teamed up last year, so they could distribute ashes to passengers on both sides of vehicles, to provide efficiency, so motorists could get in and out quickly at First United Methodist Church in Land O’ Lakes. They plan to use the same approach this year. (File)

The only difference in the event this year is that the hours were changed in response to the shift in the starting time for Pasco County Schools, said Pastor Kevin Grills, who leads the First Methodist Church of Land O’ Lakes, at 6209 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O Lakes.

The way it works is this: Anyone who pulls onto the church driveway will have the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes on their forehead, as well as a free cup of Aroma Joe’s Coffee.

As motorists pull in, they’ll be directed to see one of the two pastors — Grills or Rev. Barry White, who will impose the ashes. They also will share some information about Ash Wednesday and opportunities for worship.

Ash Wednesday, according to Christian tradition, marks the beginning of the Lenten penitential period leading to Easter, which Christians celebrate to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.

After receiving their ashes, motorists will be directed to another station where their coffee will be made to order by Glenn Cote, the owner of Aroma Joe’s.

Pastor Grills said it won’t take more than 5 minutes for commuters to drop by, get their ashes and a cup of coffee, too.

Just like last year, Grills explained the church’s motivation this way: “The reason for us doing this is simply to love our neighbors. We have wanted to offer coffee to commuters for years, but it just hasn’t happened. We hope to make it a more regular thing throughout the year. The imposition of ashes “on the go” is something that I honestly have resisted over the years, given its “fast food” kind of feel, but the pandemic has shaped our thinking to look outside the box and get creative, meeting the community before they race past our church on the way to work.

Published February 23, 2022

Roundabout recommended at Adair and State Road 52

February 22, 2022 By B.C. Manion

Growth in Dade City has prompted a recommendation for a roundabout at Adair Road and State Road 52, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) board has added the project to its priority list for consideration of future funding.

The MPO board’s action came during its Feb. 10 meeting, after a presentation by Wally Blain, who is with Benesch, a company that merged with Tindale Oliver in 2021.

Blain explained the current situation and expected traffic volumes on the road, to the MPO board.

“Adair Road is at the end of the east side of Morningside Drive, where it currently ends at State Road 52, over near the fairgrounds and Pasco High School,” Blain said.

The purpose of the study was “to look at the traffic impacts there and the needs of future development,” he said.

“There’s a lot of new development that’s been permitted by the city, a lot of new construction, a lot of active permitting, which is increasing the traffic through the area and through the intersection,” he said.

His company’s task was to consider what could done at the intersection, which has a two-way stop control on Adair Road and Morningside Drive, with State Road 52 running uninterrupted through the intersection.

The study involved observing traditional morning and afternoon peak hours, as well as school drop-off and pickup times.

“We took the Morningside Drive extension study that was completed last year and made sure that we were consistent with the data that was collected through that, as well,” he said.

The study also included an analysis of traffic that would be added from two active developments, as well as a projection of increased background traffic from future growth along the State Road 52 corridor.

Blain said the study took into account not just current traffic, but what is expected in five to 10 years.

The study also included a safety analysis.

A safety review found that there were 16 crashes, between 2016 and 2020. Those resulted in one injury and no fatalities.

While the intersection is not necessarily considered to be unsafe today, as traffic increases, it could become a safety concern, Blain said.

“There’s a lot of activity from the students that interacts with the roadway, as it is today,” Blain said.

The study looked at what would happen if the intersection was signalized, including a left-turning lane on Adair Road onto State Road 52; and, what would happen with a single-lane roundabout at the intersection, Blain said.

The signalized intersection and turn lane performed slightly better from an operational viewpoint, Blain said. But the roundabout was deemed to be superior from a safety standpoint, he added.

Another consideration was the fact that a roundabout is planned at Meridian Avenue and State Road 52, in Dade City, so this roundabout would be in keeping with the character of the roadway corridor, Blain said.

The proposed roundabout would cost about $1.4 million, which includes some right of way impacts and the relocation of some storm culverts.

The consultant’s recommendation was to approve the roundabout and add it to the MPO’s priority list.

Pasco County Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey’s voiced support for the recommendation, saying: “I like the roundabout.”

Dade City Mayor Camille Hernandez gave the proposal her enthusiastic support.

She described the proposed improvement as “very timely.”

Hernandez added: “There’s so much going on in the area, and yes, I know the residents will be happy. The growth is already happening there.

“I’d love to see this be put on the list and get that done. It’s going to check off all of the boxes of safety, and improve traffic and all of the things that we need in that area.”

The mayor then made a motion to place the project on the MPO’s priority list, for consideration of future funding. The motion was approved.

Published February 23, 2022

This maintenance man went beyond the call of duty

February 22, 2022 By B.C. Manion

Raymond Wright began his career with Pasco County in the Road & Bridge department and ended it 28 years later, as a maintenance technician IV.

In between, he routinely went beyond his basic duties, to work longer hours and help others wherever needed, according to a resolution adopted by the Pasco County Commission on Feb. 8.

A crowd of supporters joined Raymond Wright, when he was recently honored for his 28 years of service on Pasco County’s staff. He was known for going beyond the call of duty and for being a great friend to his colleagues. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

On one occasion, he was even called to help extricate a child whose hand was stuck in a pool skimmer — an incident that could have led to a terrible injury, or even worse, Commissioner Ron Oakley said, at the county board’s meeting.

The incident happened in 2018, according to the resolution.

A young boy in the Dade City area was playing around the family’s pool and the child’s hand got stuck in the pool’s skimmer.

“The child’s arm was sucked in, up to the elbow, and became lodged in the skimmer and was unable to be pulled out. The child’s parents called 911 and Fire Rescue was there within minutes,” the resolution says.

After they arrived, they determined they needed additional help and equipment.

“They placed a call to the Dade City Facilities Management office, and without hesitation, Raymond grabbed a jackhammer and headed to their location.

“Raymond arrived and instantly knew what needed to be done. Raymond began to strategically use the jackhammer to remove the concrete decking around the skimmer, while Fire Rescue kept the child calm. Together they were able to safely release the child’s hand and arm,” the resolution says.

It also notes that throughout his career, Wright proved himself “to be an invaluable asset to those he served daily, whether it be coworkers or citizens.

“His outstanding work ethic and positive attitude has earned him respect from all county departments, including Fire Rescue and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.”

The resolution also notes that Wright “worked diligently on many of the county’s buildings and structures” to keep everyone safe and healthy in their workplaces.

He also used “his proficiency in many trades” to handle jobs, the resolution added.

“His dedicated service did not stop after his shift, as Raymond also worked late nights and sometimes into the early morning hours while being on call,” the resolution says.

He was known for his dedication and the pride he took in his work, but also for “being a great friend” to his colleagues.

Wright officially retired on Nov. 30.

Oakley asked him if he’d like to say anything and Wright offered a brief response: “No,” then added, “Thank you.”

Wright may not have had much to say, but he must have left quite an impression.

When the clerk’s representative finished reading the resolution, the audience broke out in applause.

A mob of supporters also swarmed in — to share the moment with him — joining to have a ceremonial photo taken with Wright and the county board.

Published February 23, 2022

Progress continues on U.S. 98/U.S. 301 project

February 22, 2022 By B.C. Manion

The board of the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has approved a request by the Florida Department of Transportation aimed at making progress on a widening project on U.S. 98.

The Florida Department of Transportation asked the local MPO to amend its Transportation Improvement Plan to include right of way and design funding for the widening of U.S. 98, from U.S. 301 South to U.S. 301 North, from a two-lane road to a four-lane road.

Funding for the work will not affect the Pasco County MPO, but would come from state and federal sources, according to background materials in the MPO board’s Feb. 10 agenda packet.

The FDOT notified the Pasco MPO staff on Jan. 10, 2021, regarding additional funding to advance the project.

The project is designed to support economic development by improving access for movement of goods, connections to transportation facilities and major activity centers.

It also aims to improve safety by reducing fatal and serious crashes.

This proposed amendment will be posted on the MPO’s website, PascoMPO.net, where the public is welcome to submit comments.

In another action, the Pasco MPO board approved a new way to add and rank projects on its priority list.

The Pasco MPO is the lead agency in transportation planning, and its board is made up of elected officials from Pasco County, Dade City, Zephyrhills, New Port Richey and Port Richey.

Under the new system, there will be a separate priority list for bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

The new method also assigns numerical scores to rank the projects, based on points received in specific categories.

Proposed bicycle and pedestrian projects will be ranked based on the total number of points they receive in the following categories: safety and security; mobility and connectivity; economic development; project readiness and project longevity.

Proposed road improvements will be ranked upon the total of points they receive in these categories: safety and security; mobility and connectivity; freight movement and economic development; project readiness and project longevity.

In other action, the board:

• Moved forward $600,000 in funds that will be unspent by the end of fiscal year 2022, so it can be spent in fiscal year 2023.

• Reappointed Lance Smith as chairman of the MPO board and appointed Matt Murphy as vice chairman. Each will serve a one-year term.

Published February 23, 2022

Pasco County celebrates its ‘Star’ employees

February 22, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

The Pasco County Commission took a few minutes during its Jan. 25 board meeting to celebrate the accomplishments of the county’s “Star Employees of the Year.”

Pasco County’s ‘Star Employees of the Year’ are joined by county staff and elected leaders in a photo, during the Jan. 25 public announcement of their honors. (Courtesy of Pasco County)

Each year, the county selects an outstanding team, performer and leader of the year.

County Administrator Dan Biles described the process used to select those winners.

“Every department recognizes individuals, which are sent to the branch level. The branch level then picks individuals at the branch-level awards, who then come to the executive team, then out of that pool of 3,200 — almost 3,200 — candidates, these are the ones who were selected this year as the Star Leader, Star Performer, Star Team.”

A county news release detailed some of the contributions made by those receiving honors for their performance in 2021. A summary of the release is presented in the descriptions below.

Here are the recipients:

Star Team of the Year: Geographic Information Services (GIS). This team tackled more than a dozen in-depth projects over the past year – including building interactive dashboards, apps and maps – to provide real-time information for internal and external customers. GIS readily volunteers to work on highly technical solutions that other organizations often outsource.
Performer of the Year: Dr. Christine Glenn, veterinarian with Pasco Animal Services. She and her team manage more than 3,700 surgeries and 150,000 treatments every year – not to mention the twice-weekly public vaccine clinics they oversee.
Star Leader of the Year: Facilities Management Maintenance Supervisor Vito Tambasco. For over 30 years, he has been focused on a single goal: superior customer service. His dedication is infectious, as he guides his team through one of the most challenging times in the county’s history. The team continues to be innovative and to adapt, as it works to provide safe, comfortable workplaces and provide overwhelming support to the Pasco team and community.

“We’re thrilled to recognize our team members who consistently perform at a high level to make Pasco County a better place to live, work and play,” Pasco County Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey, said in the county’s news release.

“Our 2021 winners truly represent the best qualities of teamwork and leadership, and certainly showcase the incredible talents in Pasco County government,” Starkey said.

Published February 23, 2022

Pasco expands moratorium area, despite objections

February 15, 2022 By B.C. Manion

The Pasco County Commission has expanded its multifamily moratorium area, despite concerns raised about urban sprawl and affordable housing.

The board adopted the new boundary areas, which are within Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore’s District, essentially within Land O’ Lakes and Wesley Chapel.

The proposed expansion area drew pushback from two professional planners and from a chamber leader.

Cynthia Spidell, now with Stearns Weaver, a law firm in Tampa, previously worked in Pasco’s planning and capital budgeting departments.

She reminded the county board that when she worked for Pasco: “We had invited the ULI (Urban Land Institute) to evaluate Pasco County market areas.

“They came up with a proposed market area, which included the South Market and the Urban Service Area, and these areas were adopted.

“These areas include the State Road 54 and (State Road) 56 corridor, and are the intended target for growth.

“The multifamily moratorium is slowly expanding into the Urban Service Area and South Market area.

“This moratorium is counter-intuitive to this growth management strategy.

“Unintended consequences may include promoting multifamily outside the moratorium boundary, such as suburban and rural market areas; as well as unintentionally, or inadvertently, promoting smaller single-family lots, including the 40s (40-foot frontage lots), as the market adapts and seeks to achieve density in other housing products.

“These types of moratoriums perpetuate urban sprawl, do not promote getting people out of their car and lastly, during the recent PEDC (Pasco EDC) economic forecast luncheon, rent was shown to be the largest contributor of inflation.

“Restricting density on the supply side will continue to exacerbate the already high rents,” Spidell said.

Nicole Lynn, from Ardurra Group, in Tampa, also spoke against the expansion.

Ardurra provides land planning, engineering and other services.

“The expansion of the moratorium area obviously seeks to limit the housing opportunities, where the ULI Study previously had identified for concentration to be, so obviously, urban sprawl would occur,” Lynn said.

Hope Kennedy, president and CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, also voiced opposition.

“This is absolutely terrible for business. Please do not continue with these moratoriums,” Kennedy said. “We have a workforce problem and the housing crisis is directly correlated with the affordable housing.

“Moratoriums are lazy,” Kennedy added, urging the board to find more creative solutions to the county’s workforce and affordable housing issues.

Moore responded: “The majority of people that live in Pasco County are for this (moratorium), and I represent the citizens of Pasco County.”

Commissioner Jack Mariano said: “I’m comfortable with what we have in place.”

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said she agrees with concerns raised by Kennedy about the lack of affordable housing.

“I get calls all of the time. People can’t find a place to live. We’re trying to attract companies here, and where are they going to live? There is no inventory out there for someone to be purchasing a house or renting an apartment,” Starkey said.

“I agree that we want to protect jobs, but I think we can have housing and jobs,” she said.

She pointed to vertical mixed-use developments, which include both housing and jobs.

Commissioner Ron Oakley said the apartments that are being built in the moratorium area are not affordable housing.

“These apartments are renting for $2,000, $2,200 a month,” Oakley said.

“Some of these are not for jobs in our county, but for jobs in other counties nearby,” he said.

Oakley also noted that since the moratorium was imposed, some other areas of the county have been getting some multifamily developments.

The approved expansion of the moratorium area is retroactive to Jan. 6, the date of the Pasco County Planning Commission’s public hearing on the issue.

The moratorium on new applications for multifamily developments is set to expire in April.

Published February 16, 2022

Enjoying a piece of pie and a slice of history

February 15, 2022 By B.C. Manion

The Pasco County Commission took a break from its normal routine to pay homage to the history of the humble kumquat and declared kumquat pie as Pasco County’s official pie.

The county board adopted a resolution to make it official, but it also took a few minutes to celebrate the Gude family who has played a prominent role in cultivating the tiny citrus fruit that became the inspiration for the annual Dade City Kumquat Festival.

The resolution, adopted unanimously on Feb. 8, detailed some of that history.

The kumquat fruit first arrived in Pasco in the late 1800s and, over time, the town of St. Joseph became a leader in its production.

The Pasco County Commission had a celebration on Feb. 8, declaring the kumquat pie as the county’s official pie. Besides sharing history about the kumquat and the origin of the pie recipe, everyone at the meeting had a chance to enjoy a slice of pie. (Courtesy of Andy Taylor/Pasco County)

That laid the groundwork for the Dade City Kumquat Festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in January.

The festival — the only festival of its type in Florida — routinely attracts more than 40,000 people to enjoy Dade City’s quaint downtown and courthouse square, each year.

Greg Gude and his dad, Frank, came to the county board’s meeting and carried an enlarged photograph of Rosemary Gude (Greg’s mom) who created the recipe for Kumquat Refrigerator Pie.

Both Gude men offered some remarks.

Greg Gude explained how kumquats have contributed to Pasco County’s economy for decades.

“We didn’t have a lot of local sales. All of our sales were always abroad, and in the Northeast, and out of the country, even as far over as California,” he said.

“But that money came to Pasco County. And, so it was spent. It was spent by our workers. It was spent by us,” he said, it would go for such things as food, gas and clothing.

Over the years, the kumquat industry has had its share of challenges, Greg Gude said.

There were freezes and disease.

After several freezes in the 1980s, he said, “we lost our identity, in a sense, because we were originally used with leaves, to put into citrus packages and used for decorations.

“We shipped back then probably 30 (30,000) to 50,000 bushels of kumquats. There were three different people that were doing that, before the ’83 freeze.

“Then came citrus canker, which quarantined us, where we could only do the kumquat by the fruit itself,” Greg Gude said.

Fruit stands went out of business, he said.

“After that, we kind of had to create things. We already had marmalades, jellies, jams — stuff like that, chutney, made out of kumquats.

Pasco County has declared the kumquat pie its official pie. (File)

“But my mother (Rosemary Gude) came up with this kumquat pie recipe.

“After a while, we put that recipe in every little container that we shipped. We still today put that inside the container that we sell to Publix,” he said.

Then, when the Dade City Kumquat Festival came along, the pie was a big hit, he said.

“Everybody came to find out what kumquats were all about, meanwhile, they tasted this pie. This pie is a very simple pie, anybody can make it, whether you’re a baker or not, because it’s just doing ingredients,” Greg Gude said.

“We make the pies at our packing house. We sell them to other places and also to individuals who come by and buy the pie and the marmalades and jellies and all of the kumquats, themselves,” he said.

“We appreciate you all recognizing us. It’s been a long, rough industry,” he said, noting the battle continues against the diseases.

He added: “But we also have a bigger demand than we could ever grow. They use it in beers and wines now, and also some ciders. It can be used for all kinds of things,” he said.

His enthusiasm for the tiny fruit is obvious.

“You could take a kumquat and drop it in a glass of water,” he said, interrupting himself. “And, I could spend the next four hours, talking about kumquats.”

Commissioner Ron Oakley said he did business with the kumquat growers for years, purchasing kumquats to use in his citrus shipments.

“We had seven freezes during the ‘80s, which was tough for him, tough for us. We were all dealing in citrus,” Oakley said.

“I don’t know how Greg and his family has held up, to do this. They’ve had an uphill battle, ever since, but you’ve got to commend them for carrying on and keeping this alive.

“It’s just been a great part of our community here,” Oakley said.

Frank Gude shared some more the kumquat industry’s history.

Five families formed the Kumquat Growers association in 1971, and now just the Gudes and Neuhofers remain, he said.

He said it was important to remember the Neuhofers “because they contributed a whole lot to it (the kumquat industry).”

Besides celebrating the role of the kumquat in Pasco, everyone at the meeting was invited to enjoy a slice — a sweet finish to a special agenda item.

Kumquat Refrigerator Pie
Ingredients

One 9-inch pie crust
One can condensed milk
One 8-ounce container of whipped topping
2/3 cup of kumquat puree
½ cup of lemon juice

Directions
Beat the condensed milk with whipped topping. Add lemon juice and beat until thickened. Add kumquat puree. Pour in pie shell and chill for several hours. Garnish with kumquats and mint leaves.

Source: Kumquatgrowers.com (Original recipe by Rosemary Gude)

If you want to find out where to buy a kumquat pie, call 352-588-0544.

Published February 16, 2022

Efforts continue to reduce perils on Pasco roads

February 15, 2022 By B.C. Manion

The number of miles being driven in Pasco County is climbing — and so is the number of transportation-related injuries and deaths.

That’s the essence of a report, “Crash data: The story behind the numbers,” by Tina A. Russo and Johnny Koors, which was delivered to the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) board at its Feb. 10 meeting.

Russso is an active transportation planner for the MPO, specializing in pedestrian and bicycle safety, and Koors is a transportation planner for the agency.

Under federal law, the MPO was required to adopt system performance measures for safety by Feb. 27. Local MPOs could adopt their own or use the state’s targets.

The Pasco MPO team developed its targets for calendar year 2022 based on local data provided by the Florida Department of Transportation.

While the aspirational goal is to have zero deaths and serious injuries, the law requires MPOs to establish targets that are data-driven, realistic and achievable, Russo said.

The report must include:

The number of fatalities
The rate of fatalities per hundred million miles of vehicle travel
The number of serious injuries
The rate of serious injuries per miles
Non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries

The report indicates five-year averages, to provide a more accurate snapshot, Russo said.

“If we picked one year, especially if it was 2020, those numbers are going to be skewed,” she explained. “So, everything we do is that five-year trend, so we can see what’s really happening.”

The number of vehicle miles traveled influences the number of deaths and serious injuries, she noted.

In other words: “If you have more cars — more people driving — you’re going to have a greater number of fatalities and injuries,” Russo said.

“It’s not only about the fatalities. It’s the serious injuries that people incur and live with those injuries for their whole lives,” she said.

Russo showed the MPO board a map containing red dots, to indicate where the fatalities are occurring in the county.

“If you notice something, they’re all over the place. There’s not a specific area — unless you look at (U.S.) 19, that corridor — they’re all over the place.

“If we could find one intersection that was the worst and work on it, we could do that. But it’s a general behavior that’s going on here that’s happening,” Russo said.

She also noted that based on the report’s data, the county is heading in the wrong direction, when it comes to fatalities. In 2020, it had 107 fatalities from vehicle crashes, compared to 99 in 2019 and in 2018.

“We went from 99 to 107. That’s definitely something we don’t want to see,” she said.

There is a bright spot that’s not reflected in the report, she said.

“Our annual fatalities in 2021, the good news, we went down one. And, considering our miles went up, that’s a good sign for us. That we’re trending, at least, in another direction.

“We went from 107 to 106,” she said. But since the report lags behind a year, ending in 2020, that’s not in the report, she said.

Russo also noted: “Our serious injuries in that five-year period, you can see they’re starting to go down a little bit.”

She continued: “From what we’ve learned … our automobiles have become safer to drive. We’ve got airbags. We’re getting a lot of different things that help save us from those injuries.

“Believe it or not, some of those roundabouts will help with this, too. If we’ve got those lower speeds, in roundabouts …

“We all know that intersections can be very deadly. But roundabouts decrease our speed, so there are lower speed impacts,” Russo said.

She also addressed trends involving deaths and serious injuries involving bicyclists and pedestrians.

“There was a definite increase of more pedestrians being killed in 2020,” she said. At the same time, there was a notable increase in people walking during that COVID-19 period.

She also said that cyclists darting across U.S. 19 contributed to the number of deaths in that category.

Steps to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries include:

Prioritizing projects, with safety in mind
Making safety improvements when resurfacing work is done
Improving lighting, especially at intersections
Adding sidewalks and multi-use paths

Efforts must be persistent and ongoing, according to Russo.

“Things don’t change overnight. It takes a long time to get those numbers to turn in a different direction,” she said.

Targets adopted for 2022
Number of fatalities: 99.8
Rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles: 2.002
Number of serious injuries: 1,058.6
Rate of serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles: 21.337
Number of combined pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries: 125.2

Pasco County traffic fatalities:
2020: 107
2019: 99
2018: 99
2017: 108
2016: 86

Vehicle Miles Traveled (100 million miles)
2020: 49.6
2019: 55.0
2018: 50.9
2017: 48.4
2016: 48.4

Pasco’s five-year trends:
Average annual fatalities
2016-2020: 99.8
2015-2019: 92.4
2014-2018: 86.8
2013-2017: 78.0
2012-2016: 71.54

Average annual serious injuries
2016-2020: 1,058.6
2015-2019: 1,119.4
2014-2018: 1,133.2
2013-2017: 1,145.6
2012-2016: 1,032.6

Published February 16, 2022

Pasco asking for state’s help to combat speeding

February 15, 2022 By B.C. Manion

The board of the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is sending a letter to the Pasco County legislative delegation and to Gov. Ron DeSantis seeking additional funding for the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), to support traffic enforcement on the county’s state roads.

The action came at the MPO board’s Feb. 10 meeting, during a discussion of speeding problems within the county.

Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore raised the issue, noting a recent crash involving two students who were racing — that resulted in two fatalities.

“This is more and more common,” said Moore, who serves on the MPO board.

“I hear it where I live. I hear them racing in the middle of the night,” Moore said.

He also noted that he drives to Tampa once or twice a week and always sees troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol on the interstate.

By contrast, Moore said. “I’ve not seen them ever on the state roads in Pasco County, e.g., (State Road) 54, (State Road) 56, (State Road) 52, (U.S.) 41.

“We just had a fatality on (U.S.) 41 last week, as well,” Moore said.

He wants to work with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Highway Patrol to have FHP redirect resources to beef up enforcement on state roads within Pasco.

Moore noted that Pasco residents are concerned, too.

“I’m getting a lot of emails from constituents, around the Wesley Chapel area, because of this,” Moore said.

If FHP beefed up its speeding enforcement on State Roads 52, 54 and 56, as well as U.S. 41, the number of citations it issues would go through the roof, Moore said.

Pasco County Commission Chairman Kathryn Starkey, who also serves on the MPO board, said the speeding problem came up during a meeting she’d had the prior day with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and with County Administrator Dan Biles.

Starkey said she subsequently discussed the problem with David Gwynn, secretary of FDOT’s District Seven, which includes Pasco County.

A meeting on the speeding issue is being organized, Starkey said.

She told her MPO colleagues that during those discussions she learned that the troopers working the interstate are different from the ones who work within Pasco County.

Gina Torres, a transportation planner for the MPO, told the board that she knows that the FHP office working in Pasco is stretched thin.

She said she did a ride-along for an entire day and, essentially, the trooper went from crash to crash to crash.

Starkey urged her MPO board colleagues to support Moore’s motion for additional funding to increase FHP enforcement.

To put it simply, Starkey said: “This would save lives.”

The Pasco County MPO is the lead transportation planning agency in Pasco County that serves the following municipalities in Pasco: Zephyrhills, San Antonio, St. Leo, New Port Richey, Port Richey and Dade City.

Its board is made up of elected leaders from Pasco County, Zephyrhills, Dade City, New Port Richey and Port Richey.

Published February 16, 2022

State Road 52 has new path in East Pasco

February 15, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Construction crews have been working on a project that will widen and realign State Road 52, from Uradco Place to Fort King Road, in eastern Pasco County.

‘Road Closed’ barricades block both sides of the new stretch of State Road 52 that runs through San Antonio, at Curley Road. (Fred Bellet)

Between Uradco Place and Bayou Branch Canal, the existing road will be widened into a four-lane divided highway, according to a project description on the Florida Department of Transportation’s District 7 website.

Then, east of Bayou Branch Canal, the new alignment will be a four-lane divided State Road 52 — built south of the existing State Road 52 and tying into Clinton Avenue.

Then, Clinton Avenue between County Road 579 and Fort King Road will be widened into a four-lane divided road.

Clinton Avenue, between Pasadena Avenue and U.S. 301, will become part of the new State Road 52.

The section of existing State Road 52, between Bayou Branch Canal and U.S. 301, will be designated County Road 52, after the construction of the new State Road 52 is completed.

The $81.5 million project began in November 2019 and construction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024.

The website notes: “Daily lane closures and flagging operations are likely throughout the construction area on numerous roads including but not limited to State Road 52, Curley Road, McCabe Road, Prospect Road and Clinton Avenue. Motorists should use caution and be prepared to stop when necessary.”

The contractor performing the work is Superior Construction Company Southeast LLC.

Published February 16, 2022