Local reaction to project’s holdup
By Kyle LoJacono
The Pasco County project to connect SR 56 and Mansfield and Meadow Pointe boulevards in Wesley Chapel has been pushed back a second time to as late as August 1.
The connection was originally set to open in March, but the construction company, WDG Construction Inc., had its contract terminated by the county after its vehicle and workers insurance expired, according to Pasco’s chief engineer Jim Widman.
The bonding company has been looking for a replacement to finish the project since.
“RIPA (& Associates) is who the bonding company has selected,” said Robert Shepherd, Pasco County Chief Project Manager, on May 17. “They are in final negotiations now and it should be finalized in seven to 10 days.”
RIPA, a Tampa-based firm, is also the bonder’s choice to complete the Collier Parkway extension in Land O’ Lakes. WDG was also working on that project before it was terminated. No additional county money will be needed because the bonding company is required to cover any additional cost above the original contract.
“There is 20 to 25 days left of work to be done, but we don’t know yet when that work will begin,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd also said lanes of SR 54 will not be closed as part of the road widening project. The county had planned to detour vehicles through Meadow Pointe to SR 56 during the summer during the SR 54 project.
Even though SR 54 will remain open, the newly opened alternative route through Wesley Chapel will likely bring increased traffic flow to the Wiregrass area, including the Shops at Wiregrass.
“We will have an influx of traffic coming by the Shops at Wiregrass and I think that will lead to more impulse buying,” said Greg Lenners, general manager at the shops. “People will stop by to pick up something on the way home.”
Lenners said the shops’ parking lot is about 40 percent full Monday through Thursday and 90 to 100 percent full Friday to Sunday. The delayed opening does not seem to bother the general manager.
“It is perfect time for us,” Lenners said. “It is right before school starts and the stores will be having their back-to-school events. It is also not long before the holidays, so it is great for us.”
Lenners said he lives in Meadow Pointe and it is about a nine mile drive now when he takes SR 54 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to the shops. He said that would be cut to about five miles when the connection opens.
Schools that will be affected by the connection include Wiregrass Ranch High and Dr. John Long Middle. Students who live along Meadow Pointe and SR 54 east of I-75 are zoned for the schools, according to the Pasco school district’s Web site of www.pasco.k12.fl.us.
Driving time for school bus drivers, parents and older children traveling to and from the facilities each day would likely be reduced, as they will be for Lenners once the connection opens. Pasco’s school board has not released bus routes for next year and will not examine changes until later in the summer.
Kathy Appleby, manager of Dillard’s at the shops, said the store is hoping for a 5 to 10 percent increase in customers when the connection opens. She added the business did not know when the connection was originally scheduled for completion.
“We didn’t really know when the (SR) 56 extension was going to open before it did last year, so when this part opens it will be just another big surprise for us,” Appleby said.
The increased traffic from the east will help Dillard’s more than most stores at the shops because of its location.
“We are in the back of the mall so people going north on Bruce B. Downs might not see us driving by,” Appleby said. “This will increase our visibility when it happens…The road will help the businesses in the shops and that will keep the money here in Pasco, which helps us all.”
