Volume 17 Issue 22
WESLEY CHAPEL Inside:
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NEWS
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October 30, 2009
The Direct-Mail Newspaper Serving Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Since 1993! THIS INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IS DIRECTLY MAILED TO: WESLEY CHAPEL: Aberdeen • Belle Chase • Brookside • Chapel Pines • Country Walk • Lexington Oaks • Meadow Pointe • New River • Northwood • Pinewalk • Pine Ridge • Saddlebrook • Saddleridge Estates • Saddlewood • Seven Oaks • Lakes at Northwood • The Villages of Wesley Chapel • Wesley Pointe • Westbrook Estates • Williamsburg NEW TAMPA: Arbor Greene • Cory Lake Isles • Cross Creek • Grand Hampton • Heritage Isles • Hunter’s Green • Hunter’s Key • K-Bar Ranch • Lake Forest • Live Oak Preserve • Pebble Creek • Richmond Place • Tampa Palms • West Meadows
Local Road Projects Progressing According To Schedule Although there will be plenty of roadwork in the Wesley Chapel area over the next several months and even years, Pasco County officials are reporting that the county’s ongoing road projects, including the eastward extension of S.R. 56 and the widening of both Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (C.R. 581) and S.R. 54, are all progressing according to schedule. Chief project manager Bob Shepherd says the eastward extension of S.R. 56 from where it currently ends at Mansfield Blvd. to Meadow Pointe Blvd. should be completed by midNovember. The asphalt for the fourlane extension already has been laid and all that is left to be done is final surfacing, striping and some fencing and sodwork along the roadside. The county also plans to add traffic signals at the intersections of Mansfield Blvd. and S.R. 56, Meadow Pointe Blvd. and S.R. 56 and at the S.R. 56 entrance to the Shops at Wire-
grass mall, but Shepherd says that work on the first two of those signals won’t begin until the extension is nearly complete, so at first there will only be stop signs at the Mansfield Blvd. and Meadow Pointe Blvd. intersections. He adds that the signal at the mall entrance most likely will not be added until after the holiday season. The extension of S.R. 56 is key to the county’s plan for widening S.R. 54 from two lanes to four between C.R. 581 and Curley Rd., since that plan calls for drivers to use that roadway as a way to bypass the work on S.R. 54 once it begins. Shepherd says that all of the property needed for the S.R. 54 widening finally has been acquired, and the work of relocating utilities and businesses along the right of way is set to get under way. Pasco is now accepting bids for the project, and once the bidding ends on November 17, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners will most likely select the winning bid at its meeting in December, which should allow actual construction to
begin in early 2010. “Everybody is really anxious to get going on that project,” Shepherd says. Meanwhile, workers also have been busy with the initial groundwork for the widening of Bruce B. Downs from two lanes to four lanes between S.R. 54 and County The eastward extension of S.R. 56 to Meadow Pointe Line Rd. Blvd. in the foreground above, is nearly complete. Although they Shepherd says that should happen have been making steady progress within the next month or two. southward, Shepherd says the BBD And finally, the removal of the project is a little behind schedule, existing bridge over S.R. 54 at I-75, thanks to summer rains, but is still moving along nicely. He says that once which also will allow for the eventual widening of the interstate in that area, the foundation for the new lanes, also is on track, with most of the work which are being added on the west taking place during the overnight side of the existing roadway, has been hours. Shepherd says that project is laid, the county will then move traffic scheduled for completion by around over to those lanes while improvethis time next year. ments are made to the existing lanes.
Although the Mike “the A-Train” Alstott no longer runs through, around and over opponents at Raymond James Stadium, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers fullback will be back in action for a good cause this month, as he heads up the third annual “Hike for Hospice,” Sunday, November 8, at the Wesley Chapel
District Park (7727 Boyette Rd.). The 5K Hike, which benefits Gulfside Regional Hospice in Dade City, starts at 9 a.m., but Alstott will be on hand to sign autographs and lead participants in a pre-Hike warmup exercise beginning at 7:30 a.m. “We are very grateful to Mike being a part of the Hike for Hospice
for the third year,” says Gulfside Regional Hospice president and CEO Linda Ward. Ward notes that Gulfside, which was founded in 1988, is the only hospice organization certified by the state of Florida that is directly dedicated to serving all areas of Pasco County exclusively. The non-profit organization provides a full range of services to patients who are facing terminal medical conditions and their families, including medical care for patients living at home, in assisted living facilities, or in one of Gulfside’s three Hospice Houses. Ward says that the Gulfside serves an average of 1,600-2,000 patients every year. Although Gulfside does receive support from both corporate and pri-
By Michael Smith
Hike With Mike For Hospice Or Play A Round Of Golf For VA Nurses
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vate donations and sponsorships, the annual Hike also is a great source of funding for the organization, having raised more than $200,000 over the past three years. Ward says that all of that money goes directly to services for patients and their families. The cost to Hike with Mike is $25 for adults (children 10 and under are free), and every participant will receive a T-shirt, morning snack and beverages during the Hike. This year’s course is wheelchair-friendly, too. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. See “Hike For Hospice” on page 27.
For Advertising Information Call 813-910-2575 • Volume 17, Issue 22 • October 30, 2009 • www.WCNeighborhoodNews.com
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