TAMPA, Fla. — There's a push for safety on a more than 13 mile stretch of US Highway 301 which runs through Hillsborough and Pasco Counties.
There were 464 crashes along the roadway between 2015 and 2019. Of those crashes, 16 people were killed and 338 others were injured. That means 51.5-percent of those crashes ended in death or injury. The Florida Department of Transportation says 5.2-percent of those crashes were head-on.
Now, FDOT has unveiled proposed changes to the roadway and is looking to the public for input.
The approximately 13.1 miles of US 301 in question stretches from Fowler Avenue to SR 56 in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
Currently, it's an undivided roadway, a single lane in each direction and FDOT is proposing it changes to two lanes in either direction, separated by a median.
It also plans to add a bike path and, in a section, a walking path.
"That should help with the head-on crashes and the fatalities," said FDOT spokesperson Kristen Carson.
Carson says as Pasco County grows, the department is hearing more requests to widen the road.
"We have a lot of congestion out there. It's not a country road anymore... Pasco County is exploding with growth and we have a lot of people who live in Pasco who travel to Hillsborough for jobs and even vice-versa."
However, the road's expansion requires cutting into private property. 12 businesses and 20 homes would be moved or purchased by the state.
FDOT says it is "sending a notice to all property owners located within at least 300 feet on either side of the US 301 project limits, as well as other interested parties."
It includes land owned by Don Balaban, who suggests the road cut into the wetlands across the street from his and other folks' properties instead.
"I think a human being has more meaning than wildlife and wetlands," said Balaban. "I believe the project is putting wetlands and wildlife above homeowners and property owners. We're going to be relocated because they don't want to impact wetlands."
The project approval is expected to come this summer. Funding would be determined in the 2025-26 fiscal year and construction would begin after that.
According to a press release from FDOT, "The project will improve safety along this segment of US 301 and continue to improve an important freight route for this area. The no-build alternative, where no improvements other than routine maintenance are made to US 301, will remain viable throughout the remainder of this study."
According to FDOT, federal funds are not planned to be used for the project, so this study is being conducted in accordance with the PD&E Manual, Part 1, Chapter 10 (July 1, 2020), which addresses non-federal projects. A State Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) is being prepared as the environmental document for this study.
Draft project documents are available for review from at the following locations:
- Thonotosassa Branch Library, 10715 Main St, Thonotosassa, FL 33592 - Library hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
- Zephyrhills Public Library, 5347 8th St, Zephyrhills, FL 33542 - Library hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.
- FDOT District Seven headquarters, 11201 N. McKinley Drive, Tampa, FL 33612. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
FDOT is still accepting public comments on this proposal.