Work progressing on I-75 rest stops in Pasco County
July 14, 2011
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Posted by Spencer Hackett
A grader waits by the new Interstate 75 rest stop just north of State Road 56. Concrete paving is among the finishing tasks on tap for the project before the rest stop opens.
A year after groundbreaking, construction at the new Interstate 75 rest stops between state roads 54 and 56 in Pasco County is rolling ahead of schedule, officials say. The project, contracted by Cone and Graham, was scheduled to be finished by spring 2012, but contractors said it could be complete as early as Thanksgiving, depending on the weather. Demolition of the original rest stops began in July between exits 275 and 279, just north of S.R. 56 for northbound lanes and south of S.R. 54 on the southbound side. The project price tag is $25.1 million. A Florida Department of Transportation study says the number of trucks, not cars, is expected to increase dramatically in the next 30 years. It recommends 70 truck parking spaces in the northbound stop and 61 spaces for the southbound stop to keep up with that growth. According to the agency’s plans, the northbound I-75 rest stop will have 32 additional truck parking spaces, for a total of 58, and four more recreational vehicle spaces for a total of 26. There will be 15 fewer car parking spaces, down to 78. The southbound rest stop will have 27 more truck spaces for a total of 53, and two more RV spaces for a total of 26. It will have 18 fewer car spaces, for a total of 80. Both rest stops will have 36 women’s toilets, up from 12. The number of men’s toilets at each stop will double to 28. Each rest stop also will have new picnic pavilions. By this√ week, the new rest area building on the northbound side looked to be almost finished. Lights, windows and security cameras had been installed. The security guard’s office, which extends into the building’s center breezeway, already had blinds in its wraparound windows. Ground-leveling equipment was on-site in preparation for crews to lay sod and install sidewalks and parking lots. The remaining work mostly is aesthetic, said John McShaffrey, spokesman with FDOT’s interstate construction office. Both rest areas will be closed and barricaded until construction is finished. Lanes will close for one or two nights toward the end of the year when the ramps are repaved, McShaffrey said. For now, the nearest rest area for northbound traffic is 29 miles away, at mile marker 307 in Sumter County. For southbound traffic, the nearest rest stop is 40 miles away, at mile marker 238 in Hillsborough County.
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Categories: Travel Guide
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Tags: I75 Rest, Rest
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