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Pasco County planning commission narrows corridor footprints, favors roundabouts in 'Pasco Moves' update
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Summary
County staff presented a proposed rewrite of the corridor preservation table and transportation maps that narrows many right‑of‑way footprints, adds intersection footprints favoring roundabouts, and places conceptual interchanges (including a proposed Suncoast Parkway–Caldwell Lane connection). Commissioners pressed staff on property‑exaction history, mobility‑fee credits and well‑field constraints.
Nick Urette, Pasco County engineer, told the Planning Commission at a workshop that staff rewrote the corridor preservation table to align ultimate travel lanes with the MPO needs plan, reduce excessive right‑of‑way widths where appropriate and remove unconstructible roads. He said the update standardizes corridor widths while reserving flexibility on typical section content for a later phase.
Urette said the update adds an intersection footprint and expresses a preference for roundabout construction "where feasible," giving example diameters for two‑lane and four‑lane roundabout footprints. He said the changes include adding some collector roads (for example, Bolton Avenue in northwest Pasco) and removing others that proved unbuildable.
The presentation included several proposed grade separations and conceptual interchanges, including a suggested Suncoast Parkway–Caldwell Lane interchange and a proposed I‑75–Saint Joe Road grade separation. "We'd like to prefer roundabout construction where feasible," Urette said, adding the amendments are intended to protect the land needed for future ramps and intersections while recognizing state coordination will be required for limited‑access facilities.
Several commissioners pressed staff about property impacts from past corridor tables. One commissioner said historical corridor designations had required property owners to dedicate land they never saw used and asked about remedies. "We've taken these people's property and denied them the use and the rights to that property," the commissioner said, urging careful attention to fairness for owners who had dedicated right‑of‑way years ago.
Staff said Florida law requires mobility‑fee credits in some situations and that the county evaluates requests on a case‑by‑case basis; credits or return of unused land are possible where right‑of‑way is no longer needed. Urette said the office also allows administrative adjustments, alternative‑standard requests and realignment where approvals or constructability concerns make the adopted center line impractical.
The workshop also discussed a proposed east‑west corridor that would connect US 41 to the Suncoast Parkway (via Bowman and a possible Caldwell interchange). Urette noted constraints including wetlands and Tampa Bay Water well‑field parcels; he said the alignment was shifted north in places to avoid unconstructible wetlands and to reduce environmental impacts. Commissioners asked how the county would evaluate feasibility and whether mitigation could address well‑field concerns.
Urette told commissioners the regional travel model and MPO forecasts predict very large trip volumes on State Road 52 west of I‑75 and that additional Pasco‑controlled east‑west connections could relieve some of that demand. He acknowledged the model and entitlement assumptions merit further investigation and said some alternatives (including Hernando County studies) could change the overall projected need.
Staff will revise the maps and table to reflect the feedback from the workshop and circulate updated materials ahead of the commission’s next Pasco Moves session on April 16, when staff will present policy goals and objectives for the chapter.
