Work on a project to widen State Road 54 — from Curley Road to Morris Bridge Road — is expected to resume on Dec. 20, according to Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Seven Secretary David Gwynn.
Gwynn recently updated the board of the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization regarding the status of three construction projects that were stalled this summer, when the contractor handling the work defaulted.
“It was the end of July when DAB (Contractors) defaulted, more or less put us on notice that they were not financially able to continue to complete the projects,” Gwynn said.
The FDOT notified the surety, which provides the bond on the project, that is responsible for bringing in a replacement contractor to complete the work.
It typically takes two to four months to bring a replacement contractor on board, Gwynn said.
In addition to the State Road 54 project, work also was stopped on the diverging diamond interchange project at State Road 56 and Interstate 75; and on the State Road 52 project, on State Road 52, from the Suncoast Parkway to U.S. 41, including a portion of U.S. 41.
Work has resumed on the diverging diamond project, with Superior Construction handling the job. That’s the same company that’s building the realignment of State Road 52 in East Pasco.
“They jumped onto the diverging diamond. One thing they just recently did, it wasn’t really required of them in the contract, but for the Christmas holiday season, opened up an additional lane on State Road 56 to try to help with the merchants in the area and be able to provide a little better service during the shopping season,” Gwynn said.
The contractor expects to have the new configuration completed by summer 2022, Gwynn said.
The State Road 52 project is being handled by a company called PCS (previously known as Pepper). The work has begun, but there’s still about two years left on that project, the FDOT officials said.
“The one that’s given us the most challenge has been State Road 54, for a variety of reasons,” he said.
That work will be completed by Cone & Graham, which is the company that is building the county’s Ridge Road project and that built the State Road 56 extension, Gwynn said.
Gwynn also noted there are some traffic issues at the new leg of an intersection at Meadow Pointe Boulevard and State Road 54, which has to do with an equipment issue. He said that is expected to be corrected in coming weeks.
The Pasco MPO — made up of representatives of Pasco County, Dade City, Zephyrhills, Port Richey and New Port Richey — is the lead transportation planning agency in Pasco County.
Published December 15, 2021
Tom says
It is now mid January and no progress. Is the surety company going to pay the penalties that the previous contractor would have paid for not reaching the timeliness clause? This has become an absurd case of ineptitude in holding the surety company responsible.