Ridge Road Extension

Project Milestones

• 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.
• August 2018, USACE issued new public notice. 
• December 2019, USACE issued a Department of Army permit in accordance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Project Needs

• 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 extension of Ridge Road 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 previously had 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.

Alternative Analysis

Detailed analysis of 19 alternative scenarios was performed including a no build/no action scenario. The USACE ultimately issued a permit for the construction of Alternative 7a which provides a 6.8 hour improvement in evacuation time (28%) versus the no build/no action alternative and a 9% improvement in volume to capacity ratio for the studied area. The scenarios accessed and methodologies for assessment were approved by the USACE.