The growing population in Hernando and Pasco counties is evident in the amount of traffic seen every day on County Line Road.

  • County Line between Hernando and Pasco counties is trouble spot
  • Widening is planned for stretch of road
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People who live there say they can no longer safely leave their neighborhood.

Daniel Carey, who lives in the Winding Oaks community, and others on the association board are trying to find a faster and safer way to get in and out of their neighborhood.

They believe the answer is a traffic light. In January, residents made their pitch to their local commissioner.

"So we invited Jack Mariano, our county commissioner, to our annual meeting and he said he would look into it because County Line is between Hernando and Pasco county, so who's going to pay for it," Carey said.

There have been a lot of crashes in the area. Drivers trying to get out find the speeds on County Line make it nearly impossible to join the flow of traffic.

"And then, of course, when you do pull out they're going 60, 70 miles an hour," Carey said. "They're right up on your tail because you can't accelerate to get up to the speed they're going."

David Maccuish, the vice president for the neighborhood association, got a bit more information from the county commission.

"Both Pasco and Hernando have plans to widen the road, and the plans include a traffic light," he said. "So it's in the works. It's just a question of do we live long enough to have it done."

Bay News 9's Chuck Henson got a copy of the Hernando County five-year plan and there is a mention of a stretch of County Line Road, scheduled for widening from East Road to Springtime Street.

The project will go into the development phase this year, but as Maccuish mentioned it could be several years before folks see changes in the road.

It’s the Department of Transportation and not the counties who will complete the project. From development to design to build on a project can take several years.

Until then, please drive safe, slow down and allow the folks on those cross streets room to safely merge into traffic.