This project involved the design and construction of a 12-foot to 15-foot wide Shared Use Path beginning at the intersection of Keystone Road (CR 611) and East Lake Road (CR 582). The path continues east for approximately three miles to the Pinellas/Hillsborough County line, then turns north through Pinellas County’s Brooker Creek Preserve for approximately two miles ending at the Pinellas/Pasco County line.
Improvements from this project included providing a mid-block crossing on Keystone Road; floodplain mitigation; wetland mitigation; access gates for Brooker Creek Preserve; installing gates for Tampa Bay Water to access active potable water well heads and Lake Dan; and providing new signing, pavement markings, and removable bollards. The project also provided reinforced-concrete shock pads at locations where the Shared Use Path crossed the Tampa Bay Water Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) potable water mains; access for Duke Energy; and new fencing within Pinellas County’s Brooker Creek Preserve.
Work elements included shared use path/roadway design, drainage/stormwater design, signing and pavement markings, utility coordination, traffic control plans, and gopher tortoise permitting through Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) and Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC). Significant stakeholder coordination was also provided with Hillsborough County (on-going Lake Dan Surface Water Modeling/Restoration project), Pinellas County, and Pinellas County’s on-going Keystone Road (LAP) project (FPID 43601115801).
This project was managed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Seven, with extensive involvement by Pinellas County, the owner/maintaining agency. The team not only delivered the project on time and within budget, they were able to reduce the project's original scope for retaining wall by 20%, resulting in significant savings for the owner. Additionally, the team redesigned the project through alterations in ditch grading, stormwater culvert usage, floodplain compensation usage and reduction in gravity wall usage, all of which resulted in a ZERO addition or negative adverse runoff conditions to adjacent property owners.