The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Crenshaw Lake Road

Traffic jams likely with U.S. 41 closure

By

Thousands of motorists who normally travel along U.S. 41 through Lutz can expect longer drive times, as the highway is closed until March 27 for a railroad crossing project.

CSX will be replacing the rails and the railroad crossing north of Crenshaw Lake Road.

Since U.S. 41 will be closed, thousands of motorists who travel through Lutz will be forced to detour.

To get around the U.S. 41 closure in Lutz, motorists heading from Pasco County can go south on North Dale Mabry Highway to Bearss Avenue and then east on Bearss Avenue to U.S. 41. Motorists who want to go north past the detour need to go west on Bearss Avenue and then north on North Dale Mabry Highway. Some internal roads will be open during the closure. (Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
To get around the U.S. 41 closure in Lutz, motorists heading from Pasco County can go south on North Dale Mabry Highway to Bearss Avenue and then east on Bearss Avenue to U.S. 41. Motorists who want to go north past the detour need to go west on Bearss Avenue and then north on North Dale Mabry Highway. Some internal roads will be open during the closure.
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)

For motorists heading south, primarily from Pasco County, the detour route will be to travel North Dale Mabry Highway south to Bearss Avenue, then head east to U.S. 41.

For those heading north, the detour would be to take Bearss Avenue west to North Dale Mabry Highway and then continue north.

While motorists will not be able to cross the tracks during the closure, there will be access to local businesses, including Lutz Preparatory School.

Access to Lakeside Drive also will be maintained, from the north side of the tracks.

Electronic message boards and detour signs are being used to assist motorists traveling through the detour.

Officials said traffic will be congested on various roads throughout the area, adding most of the routes will experience heavier than normal congestion.

The Florida Department of Transportation worked with CSX to choose the March 14 to March 27 timeframe, so most of the work could be scheduled during the Hillsborough County Public Schools’ spring break, officials said.

Published March 16, 2016

U.S. 41 in Lutz will be closed at the railroad crossing, north of Crenshaw Lake Road, until March 27. Electronic signs were posted in advance of the closure to alert motorists. (Courtesy of Florida Department of Transportation)
U.S. 41 in Lutz will be closed at the railroad crossing, north of Crenshaw Lake Road, until March 27. Electronic signs were posted in advance of the closure to alert motorists.
(Courtesy of Florida Department of Transportation)

 

Despite holiday, gas prices continue to fall

By

The demand for gasoline was the biggest in years for travelers trying to take the road to their Christmas destinations. Yet, where the classic system of supply and demand would’ve typically meant higher gas prices — they were, instead, lower.

In fact, motorists saw the cheapest gasoline for Christmas since 2008, where Florida drivers saw an average price of $2.43. That broke lows set in 2009, AAA said, when gas was $2.63 in the state.

“Low gas prices are helping consumers save more than $21 for a tank of gasoline compared to the highs earlier this year, and that has a positive effect on holiday shopping and travel,” AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said, in a release. That high was $3.70.

“The new year will bring new expectations for even cheaper gasoline. Prices could drop another 3 to 6 cents by New Year’s Day.”

The national average dropped for a 94th consecutive day Sunday, the longest streak on record. The previous record of 86 days of drops came during the height of the Great Recession. Since that streak began, gas has fallen 92 cents in Florida.

“The world’s oil supply continues to outpace demand keeping downward pressure on oil and gas prices,” Jenkins said. “Speculators believe this trend will continue next year, so cheap gasoline should stick around for a while.”

Crude prices settled at $54.73 at the close of trading on Friday, down $1.79 from the previous week. The average price for a barrel of oil is expected to be $63 this coming year, according to the Energy Information Administration, down $12 over the last three months of 2014.

Florida is down 8 cents from a week ago, and 39 cents from a month ago. It’s off by 98 cents from a year ago.

Cheapest prices locally, according to GasBuddy, include:

• $2.10 at the Citgo at U.S. 41 and Crenshaw Lake Road in Lutz
• $2.13 at Sam’s Club on State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel
• $2.21 at both the D&D station at U.S. 98 and U.S. 301, and Clark at U.S. 301 near Long Avenue in Dade City
• $2.27 at the RaceTrac on State Road 52 near Silver Palm Boulevard in Land O’ Lakes
• $2.29 at the Marathon on Eiland Boulevard and Geiger Road in Zephyrhills

Lutz on fast track to finally developing downtown center

By

Hillsborough County wants to bring parts of the Lutz community — especially land along U.S. 41 — into the 21st century with county water and sewer. But some vocal residents in the community are still giving the idea a big no.

Officials want to make the Lutz Downtown Center Zoning District a reality, which would not change the development pattern or density of parcels along U.S. 41, but instead create the infrastructure necessary that might help business grow more on the popular corridor connecting Pasco County with Tampa.

“It’s the opportunity for parts of that area to receive water and sewer service,” said Yeneka Mills, a community planner for the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission. “We know that people there don’t want this to turn into a Dale Mabry (Highway), with traffic, and water and sewer. They think that this is going to be a lot of growth that will make roads congested.”

What it would likely create instead are amenities like restaurants and coffee shops, the kind of businesses that can’t operate off septic tanks without a huge financial investment, said William Payne, who owns some parcels of land in the proposed downtown district.

“The concept of public utilities brings fear to the local residents,” Payne, the owner of the engineering firm WSP Consultants in Lutz, said. “There is a very, very small group of vocal people, and they are very, very united. They oppose any potential development from County Line Road, all the way (south) to Avila. We could have downtown Lutz as a destination, and not just watch people go by us at 55 mph. Right now, those drivers have no reason to stop, and that’s hurting Lutz.”

However, Lutz has worked hard to maintain its small town atmosphere, despite the population explosion surrounding it. Some of the residents there have fought for decades to maintain the small-town character that has defined Lutz for so long, and feel improvements at this level could turn the community into just another retail district.

“There is this misnomer out there that our coalition is against growth, but we’re not against growth at all,” said Mike White, president of the Lutz Citizens Coalition. “We’re just against unplanned and bad growth that negatively impacts the community.”

Another misnomer, White said, is that it’s the lack of water and sewage infrastructure that’s preventing businesses like restaurants from finding their way into the Lutz downtown area along U.S. 41.

“What’s keeping the chain restaurant from coming into Lutz has nothing to do with infrastructure, and has everything to do with the market,” he said.

Mills and other Planning Commission officials met with a small group of residents in September to explore some of the ideas. But even if they do get approved, Payne says he doesn’t expect to see any actual work being done for at least another decade.

Septic tanks can be problematic beyond just wastewater disposal because it limits the number of parking spaces available on a property, Payne said. For example, his land on First Street Southwest that is currently home to a jazzercise center could be a great spot for the kind of business Lutz rarely sees.

“It’s a perfect spot for a coffee shop and drive-thru,” he said. “We’re in a high-income area, and the demographics suggest something like that can do well. But we can’t open something like that without sewer lines.”

The affected areas, according to Mills, include Lutz’s historic downtown area to Newberger Road, Crystal Lake Road to Sunset Lane, and the Crenshaw Lake Road area.

The way county officials talked, these pending upgrades already are a done deal, White said.

“Well, there isn’t much that we can do about it, to be honest with you,” he said. “Right now, the county is very pro-development, and we’ll just have to wait and see what comes down the pipeline.”

In the meantime, work crews are installing a water pipeline along U.S. 41, with businesses along the line able to connect if they are directly on it. Payne said he would connect his parcels to it as soon as the county allows.

“I look at it as positive development,” he said. “And this is what the zoning and planning commission are here for. They restrict what goes in there, so you can still keep a community protected, but welcome the amenities you need and want, too.”

Published October 1, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

Gas prices starting to stabilize despite declines

By

The winning streak for gas customers has now continued into its 40th consecutive day as the price for a gallon of regular unleaded continues to drop in Florida.

But with oil prices finally starting to stabilize, it might not be long before those prices halt their free fall.

The price of oil dropped just 23 cents last week, compared to more than $4 the week before, according to a new report from AAA’s The Auto Club Group. That put the price of barrel at $97.65, which would suggest that gas prices should stabilize, too. But that hasn’t been happening.

“Prices are falling at about a half-cent a day, and aren’t showing signs of slowing down,” said AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins, in a release. “It’s unusual to see prices steadily decline in the late summer months, but increases in domestic oil supply are helping to offset fluctuations in demand during the busy summer travel season.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Florida was $3.37 Sunday, down from $3.41 a week ago, and $3.58 a month ago. It’s also well below the $3.54 Floridians were paying on average at the gas pump during this time in 2013.

The national average continues to drop as well, settling in at $3.48 compared to $3.50 just a week ago. That’s from a cost of $3.64 in July.

Gas prices late Sunday ranged from $3.19 at the Hess station on the corner of U.S. 41 and State Road 52 to $3.39 at the Shell station near the intersection of State Road 54 and State Road 56 in the Land O’ Lakes area, according to GasBuddy.com.

The Sam’s Club on State Road 56 near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard was the cheapest in the Wesley Chapel area at $3.18, while a Mobil station on County Road 54 near Oakley Boulevard checked in at $3.41. Gas in Lutz was slightly higher with $3.20 reported at the Citgo on U.S. 41 and Crenshaw Lake Road, with the high of $3.49 at the Shell station on North Dale Mabry Highway near Van Dyke Road.

East Pasco County continues to have some of the highest gas prices. Zephyrhills reported $3.29 at a Marathon station on the corner of Eiland Boulevard and Geiger Road, while the 7-Eleven in downtown Zephyrhills was selling gas at $3.38.

Dade City was even higher, the Shell station at Cortez Boulevard and U.S. 301 charging $3.26 on the low end Sunday, while a BP station on the U.S. 98 Bypass offered gas at $3.41.