The senior planner at the transportation planning agency for Pasco County has warned that the widening of State Roads 54 and 56, will not bring long term solutions to the issue of commuters finding themselves in gridlock on an almost daily basis. Although it has provided some temporary relief, drivers can expect the problems to worsen again in the coming years.
Although the widening of the roads does seem to be working at the moment, the growth in population that is expected in the area means that even with six lanes each, the roads will still be unable to cope with the amount of traffic that will occur because of this growth. The problem is expected to get progressively worse as the population of the area increases, until it reaches a point where the traffic will become too much for the roads to cope with.
At the moment the roads are capable of dealing with up to 60,000 cars a day, and some sections already see more traffic than that. By 2040 the roads will be expected to deal with more than 100,000 vehicles every day, and the existing infrastructure will simply be unable to cope with this unless a solution to the problem is found. Ideas that have been suggested so far include widening the roads further, or introducing a second level carriageway.
Tampa Premium Outlets will cause some congestion, and there will also be a number of other commercial and residential developments that will soon be built. The number of new homes that will be built will be in the hundreds, and this will inevitably mean that more people will be making trips along both highways on a daily basis.
The Pasco County Commission have taken a slightly different approach to how they are dealing with the problems that the increase in traffic will bring to the area. Local residents and business owners are being asked about their opinions what solutions they would like to see to the traffic problems, and two task forces have been set up to investigate possible solutions, one for the East side of Pasco and the other for the west. Both task forces have already been briefed about the scale of the problem, and the solutions that they come up with will be presented to the Municipal Planning Office towards the end of this year and the beginning of next.
If you are interested in more information on homes for sale in Pasco County, or any real estate in the Tampa Bay area, please contact Rose & Joe LoCicero at (813) 435-5411 or start your home search now.