The Federal Highway Administration has given a green light to the new Interstate 75 interchange that will be built on Overpass Road, not far from Wesley Chapel District Park.
“This is a huge accomplishment, as all new interchange requests along the interstate system go up to Washington, D.C., for approval,” Florida Department of Transportation District 7 secretary Paul Steinman told Pasco County commissioners Tuesday, according to a release.
The Overpass Road interchange will provide additional access in the Wesley Chapel area, which has experienced a large population growth, as well as East Pasco County, where several developments have been approved or are in various stages of planning or construction, such as Pasadena Hills.
The new road will help divert traffic from existing interchanges on State Road 54, State Road 52 and State Road 56.
The county will have eight years to get the interchange ready to go, or the approval process would have to be reinitiated, county planning and development director Richard Gehring told commissioners, according to a release. The county would have to dip into mobility fees, Penny for Pasco, as well as “special contributions” from the Villages of Pasadena Hills, to get it going.
The initial cost estimate of the new interchange is $55 million.
See the July 16 edition of The Laker/Lutz News for more details on the new interchange.
