By Kyle LoJacono
Frequent drivers of the Suncoast Parkway and Veterans Expressway will need some extra quarters this time next year.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will increase the fee by 25 cents at all stops on the two highways, as well as many other toll roadways throughout the state, beginning June 30.
Turnpike spokeswoman Christa Deason said the increase was part of a law signed by the state Legislature in 2007 to increase revenue for the department for capital improvement projects.
“The state gave us up to five years to start with the higher rates,” Deason said. “We delayed the increase as long as possible because of the economy, but now we are under the gun.”
Deason said SunPass customers will not be affected by the rate hike on any of the mainline plazas and off ramps on the Suncoast in Pasco north to where the parkway originates in Hernando County. They will also pay the same amount while using exits on the Veterans as they do now but will need to shell out the extra quarter when driving through the Sugarwood Plaza in Odessa and the Anderson Plaza in Tampa.
FDOT statistics from 2010 show that 45,000 and 54,400 vehicles travel the Sugarwood and Anderson plazas each day, respectively.
Deason said FDOT expects to generate $1.8 billion in revenue from 2012-16 because of the increase, which will let the department pay for the future widening of the Veterans by one lane in each direction.
“Everyone knows it needs to be widened, and we’ve been getting public input on the best way to do that,” Deason said. “Traffic flow is poor during rush hour. Without this increase, we might have to wait a few more years to do anything about it.”
The widening of the Veterans is also part of the road planning for Hillsborough County. Pedro Parra, Hillsborough Planning Commission principal planner, said his department is working under the idea that the expressway will be widened within the next 10 years.
“We are right now looking at ways to make Gunn Highway safer,” Parra said. “We’re doing that with the understanding that the Veterans will be wider, so it is affecting everything we are doing in the planning commission.”
The Veterans opened in 1994, while the Suncoast was completed in 2001. Deason said neither roadway has seen a toll rate increase since they were established.
For more information on the toll increase, visit floridasturnpike.com/index.cfm or call the FDOT’s turnpike office at (800) 749-7453. For general information on FDOT, visit www.dot.state.fl.us.
