After 20 Years, Ridge Road Extension Gets Go-Ahead

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — The long-anticipated Ridge Road Extension will soon be a reality. Pasco County Engineering Services announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for work to begin on the four-lane roadway that will connect Ridge Road to the Suncoast Parkway and eventually to U.S. 41.

County officials say the $90 million connection will provide a critically needed east-west thoroughfare in Pasco County.

“In a time of unprecedented growth, the importance of this project cannot be overstated,” said Pasco County Board Chairman Mike Moore. “The Ridge Road Extension has the potential to save lives during an emergency evacuation, while providing enhanced connectivity and accessibility for our residents and visitors in their daily travel.”

Pasco County and Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise applied for the USACE permit that allows for the new 8.7-mile, four-lane, median-divided roadway.

Phase one construction will begin immediately, connecting the existing Ridge Road to the Suncoast Parkway where an overpass has already been constructed.

Phase two, scheduled for late 2022, will continue the connection to U.S. 41 at the intersection of Connerton Boulevard, with funding provided by private development mobility fees.

“Our team has taken great care with the design and environmental considerations of this project,” said County Administrator Dan Biles. “Extensive redesign and planning have reduced the roadway footprint, minimized wetland impacts and increased our conservation holdings in the area.”

In addition to improving east-west roadway capacity, traffic models indicate the Ridge Road Extension will reduce Pasco County hurricane evacuation times by nearly 30 percent.

Sixteen bridges, including 15 upland wildlife crossings designed to maintain habitat continuity, were included to reduce the wetland impact within the 6,500-acre Serenova Preserve by 83 percent and the wetland impact of the entire project by 34 percent when compared with typical roadway construction.

It was the fate of the Serenova Preserve that delayed construction of the extension for 20 years.

The county originally submitted its request for a federal permit to construct the extension through the preserve in 1998 but it was blocked by environmental group, Save Our Serenova coalition and the Suncoast Sierra Club, concerned about flooding and the impact on endangered wildlife in the preserve.

Members of the Save Our Serenova coalition didn't couch their intent on a Facebook postfollowing the county's announcement.

"We got a crappy Christmas present from the Army Corp of Engineers on Friday. After 20 years, they finally granted the permit to construct the Ridge Road Extension through the Serenova Preserve in Pasco County, and they did it at the end of the day on the Friday before the holidays when they knew many of our volunteers would be busy with friends and family," posted the coalition. "But if they think we won't fight back, they've made a mistake."

The coalition has joined the Sierra Club in raising money for a defense fund to fight the Army Corps of Engineers' decision to let the county move forward with construction.

"The County is pledging to bring in the bulldozers within days, so we need to move quickly ... If you've been thinking about donating but haven't because you're waiting for us to go to court, now is the time," wrote the coalition. "This conservation easement was mitigation for wetlands destroyed during the construction of the Suncoast Parkway. Allowing the county to build a road through it now sets a terrible precedent for future fights, not to mention would fragment this lovely preserve that sits contiguous to the 13,500 acre Starkey Wilderness to the south."

"If we can't protect land set aside to compensate for the destruction of other land, is there anything off limits to development?" asked the Sierra Club in a Facebook post.