One of the county’s busiest intersections of Lithia Pinecrest, Lumsden and Bell Shoals rds and Durant and Lumsden rds, which was scheduled for construction this summer, is now been slated for later this year.
Residents who were expecting to see some construction to improve the intersection of Lithia Pinecrest, Lumsden and Bell Shoals Rds and Durant and Lumsden Rds this summer will have to wait a little longer.
Hillsborough County Public Works officials confirmed last month that the proposed improvements for the troublesome intersections are slated to begin later this year.
While the project has been in its design phase for the past five years, according to County spokesperson Steven Valdez, a construction contractor has not yet been determined.
“The bidding process is next on the agenda and once a contractor is determined the project will take about 12 months,” Valdez said.
Hillsborough County Engineering Division Public Works Center Project Manager, William “Reg” Alford explained that the project’s difficulty has to do with the intersection’s six existing and quite busy roadway approaches.
“The approaches have unconventional, skewed crossings that create conflicting movements for the vehicles along with the problem of the lane configurations and turn lane lengths, which do not provide adequate operational capacity for current and future traffic,” Alford said during the last public meeting.
Alford added that without a doubt the intersectionis operating beyond its design capacity, resulting in significant vehicle delay due to traffic congestion and accidents.
According to county officials, on an average, the intersection sees as much as 20,000 vehicles a day with traffic volumes highest during morning and evening peak hours.
The northbound left turn lane on Lithia Pinecrest Rd. experiences the highest volume in the morning. The eastbound right turn lane on Lumsden Rd. is at its highest volume in the evening.
The total estimated cost of the project is approximately $11.4 million, covering the adding of through lanes, new turning lanes, medians, bicycle lanes and sidewalks and includes the Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) study as well as land acquisitions.
Hillsborough County hired CH2M HILL to conduct a PD&E study to determine the existing conditions and recommend improvements.
For additional questions and up-to-date project information, residents are encouraged to visit the county’s project Website at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pwprojects or call Public Works Customer Service at 635-5400.
