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By Ferdinand Zogbaum, Reporter, Bay News 9
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Suncoast Parkway is a lot more than a road that connects the Tampa Bay area to points farther north.
Citrus County Property Appraiser Geoffrey Greene looks at the parkway as an economic boost, especially if it were extended through Citrus County.
"I'm just trying to plant a seed," Greene said.
Greene believes extending the parkway through the county would create jobs and add to the tax base. He sent two letters to Governor Rick Scott asking him to bring the project back to life.
"We have to defer our tax base to more industrial; commercial. Otherwise, the burden will fall on our existing residences," Greene said.
Though the project is dead, the design phase was nearly completed.
If the parkway were finished, it would continue on from Hernando County and dump out north of Crystal River.
A rebirth of the project doesn't matter to some residents.
"Anybody who travels the Suncoast Parkway right now can see there is not enough traffic to make that worth while," said resident Walter Moulton.
Greene said he thinks it would take about $600 million to finish the project.
The Suncoast Parkway currently extends 42 miles from the Veterans Expressway in Tampa to US-98 near the Hernando-Citrus county line.
The proposed project would extend northward approximately 27 miles through Hernando and Citrus Counties.
Original article from Bay News 9.
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