Project Purpose:

To improve east-west roadway capacity and enhance overall mobility within the area bounded by SR-52 to the north, SR-54 to the south, US-41 to the east and Moon Lake Road, Decubellis Road, Starkey Boulevard to the west in accordance with the County’s current Comprehensive Plan and the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Long Range Transportation Plan. The project will also provide additional roadway capacity and improved routing away from coastal hazard areas and improve hurricane evacuation clearance times in the event of a hurricane or other major weather-related occurrence in accordance with State of Florida requirements and the County’s current Comprehensive Plan.

Pasco County has 178,000 residents (or nearly 38% of County residents) living in evacuation zones within two miles of Ridge Road. During a major storm event, Pinellas County residents will also flee using northbound routes through Pasco County. High winds may require all bridges out of Pinellas to be closed. Pasco County has only two east/west evacuation routes, State Roads 54 and 52. Either State Road can be and frequently have been closed due to accidents, police activity, utility leaks, etc. SR 54 has been historically vulnerable to flooding. State Roads are approximately 9 miles apart, whereas 1 mile spacing is required by County Land Development Code to provide efficient access and traffic mobility.

Project History and Milestones

Pasco County and the Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) are co-applicants for a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). January 1992, Serenova Development of Regional Impact (DRI) approved. Roadway plan included construction of Ridge Road Extension. Described in detail in “Previously Approved Serenova DRI”. August 1994, Final Environmental Impact Statement for Suncoast Parkway Phase 1 completed including overpass for Ridge Road Extension. 1997, agreements are executed by Pasco County, SWFWMD, and FDOT preserving ROW for RRE in the Serenova Preserve. 1998, County submitted a permit application to SWFWMD and USACE. 2000, USACE issued the first Public Notice. 2003, SWFWMD issued an ERP for the RRE project.

May 31, 2011, at the request of USACE, the County and FTE submitted a new joint application for the RRE. November 28, 2011, the USACE published a public notice for the RRE based on the resubmitted application. July 23, 2012, the USACE issued a Request for Additional Information (RAI) letter to Pasco County. December 2013, the County submitted a response to this request. August 7, 2013, the SWFWMD issued a Modification to the ERP for the RRE project.

March 6, 2014, the USACE requested that the County prepare an expanded Alternatives Analysis for 16 USACE defined build alternatives. April 2015, the co-applicants filed the requested comprehensive alternatives analysis. April 2017, USACE made a preliminary determination that the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable. Alternative (LEDPA) is modified Alternative 7, the applicants’ revised preferred alternative. May 2017, USACE issued an RAI with questions focused on the apparent LEDPA.

May 2017 to Present: Described in detail in “Coordination and Current Activities”.

Given this preliminary determination, the co-applicants have developed a detailed project management plan for completing the remaining requirements for USACE to conclude its review and reach a final permit decision. This plan is updated monthly to reflect actual progress. As the plan is based on best possible estimates of activity duration it is subject to change. The plan currently anticipates a permit decision by the USACE in late Summer 2019. The most recent version is attached.

Previously Approved Serenova DRI

A Development of Regional Impact (DRI) was approved by the Department of Community Affairs, Regional

Planning Council, and Pasco County in Jan 1992. This property was purchased by FDOT as wetland impact compensation / mitigation for impacts of the Suncoast Parkway and associated projects. This property is now known as Serenova Preserve. Agreements were executed by Pasco County, SWFWMD, and FDOT that preserved ROW for Ridge Road Extension through the Serenova Preserve.

The Conservation Easement which defines the Serenova Preserve lists the Ridge Road Extension as an exception. The Serenova DRI included Ridge Road Extension to support development.

Entitlements prior to preservation included:

6,481 residential units

279.1 acres of retail development

154.6 acres of office development

244.5 acres of industrial development

Several public facilities

Coordination and Current Activities

Representatives of FTE and Pasco County including NV5 (RRE engineer of record) and Dawson and Associates (D&A—Pasco County’s USACE Section 404 Permitting Consultant) conduct regular conference calls and electronic communications with USACE to coordinate activities to fulfill USACE’s CWA 404 permit review requirements. USACE tracks the overall CWA 404 process for the co-application using a summary “flow chart”. The current version of the USACE Flow Chart dated August 16, 2017 is attached.

The co-applicants are in the process of responding to the May 2017 RAI and anticipate responding in fall of 2018. Detailed construction plans are being prepared and are anticipated to be complete prior to the permit decision. Construction funding is available in the current fiscal year.

Alternatives Analysis

The 2015 Alternatives Analysis assessed 18 scenarios including no build/no action. The County’s preferred alternative, Modified Alternative 7, was determined by the USACE to be the apparent LEDPA. Modified Alternative 7 provides a 6.6 hour improvement in evacuation time (28%) versus the no build/no action alternative. The scenarios accessed and methodologies for assessment were approved by the USACE prior to the completion of the study. A summary table of the Wetland Impact Minimization

The project has gone through extensive redesign since inception in order to reduce the roadway footprint and wetland impacts (minimization). These minimization efforts have been at substantial cost to the project, and include: