Construction on a project to improve traffic flow through the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41 is expected to begin in 2018, according to Florida Department of Transportation officials.
The project, which will lengthen some turn lanes, currently is in design. The construction cost is about $752,000 and is included in the transportation department’s fiscal year 2019 budget, according to the department’s spokeswoman, Kris Carson.
Changes will focus on the west side of the intersection by lengthening the eastbound right- and left-turn lanes on State Road 54. To accomplish this, the median on State Road 54 at Hunt Road will be altered to allow only right turns from Hunt onto State Road 54.
Pasco County officials estimate design costs to be about $300,000.
The turn-lane changes are considered an interim solution to the traffic congestion at this intersection.
A permanent solution – and a major reconstruction – is the current focus of a study by a local task force that will make a recommendation to the county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Those efforts began in 2015, and are expected to extend into 2018.
The entire study includes the State 54/56 corridor, from Bruce B. Downs Boulevard on the east to U.S. 19 on the west. Currently, the focus is on two intersections: Little Road and State Road 54 in New Port Richey, and U.S. 41 and State Road 54 in Land O’ Lakes.
The Land O’ Lakes intersection is receiving most of the attention as one of the county’s busiest intersections. There also is available funding, which the New Port Richey intersection lacks.
Some options for State Road 54 and U.S. 41 include elevated lanes, as well as redesigns at ground level. Dedicated lanes for buses and express toll lanes also are being considered.
The 17-member task force is working with the MPO as well as Pasco County Planning and Development, FDOT and consultants.
Published November 22, 2017
