Phone In Your Thoughts on Transportation Planning Tonight

Getting involved in the government planning process is only a phone call away for Pasco County residents.

At least that will be the case tonight when the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority plays host to a town hall meeting for Pasco. The telephone meeting starts at 7 p.m. April 21. Pasco residents are invited to call in to take part.

“We’re hoping for a good amount of participation,” said Amy Ellis, TBARTA’s communications director. “The first one we had about 8,300 people over the course of the call. We’re hoping for that kind of participation from Pasco County, as well.”

Ellis said the regional planning agency is in the process of updating its regional master plan for transportation and wants to hear from residents about what projects they think should be priorities.

TBARTA is a multicounty agency that was created by the Florida Legislature in 2007. It is charged with creating a transportation system that connects seven counties, including Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando. While it hasn’t yet overseen specific construction projects, it has the authority to do so, Ellis said. Localized projects that are included in the regional master plan have a greater chance of receiving federal funding, she added.

The agency is currently conducting a number of corridor studies “to get the plans in place so construction can happen,” Ellis said. Those studies include State Road 54/56 in the Land O’ Lakes area and a project to connect the Westshore area in Tampa to Crystal River/Inverness. This project would possibly create a transit connection from downtown Tampa’s proposed high speed rail station through Pasco County and into Citrus.

Using a telephone call-in format for a town hall meeting is a relatively new undertaking by TBARTA, Ellis said.  

“We have used it in the past and it’s been really successful,” she said. “People are more inclined (to help) if they can participate from home.”

The agency will call between 40,000 and 80,000 Pasco residents at random tonight to take part in the town hall meeting. Others can call 1-888-886-6603, ext. 16192, to take part.

Questions will also be accepted online via TBARTA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.