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The North Suncoast Corridor project consists of constructing a multi-lane, limited access roadway located midway between US 19 and US 41 in Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando Counties, Florida. The project corridor extends from a connection to the Veterans Expressway (currently under construction and formerly named the Northwest Expressway) in Hillsborough County to US 98 in Hernando County, a total length of approximately 43 miles. This document has been developed as two volumes, referred to as Zone 1 (from the Veterans Expressway in Hillsborough County to State Road (SR) 52 in Pasco County), and Zone 2 (from SR 52 to US 98 in Hernando County). Zone 2 is addressed in a separate document being prepared under this Florida Department of Transportation study.

The northern terminus of Zone 1 is the northern ramp terminals for a proposed interchange on the North Suncoast Expressway at SR 52. The southern terminus is the Veterans Expressway near Van Dyke Road in northern Hillsborough County. The length of the proposed route in Zone 1 is approximately 15 miles.

Study Purpose and Need

The project is needed for the following reasons:

• Traffic relief in the US 19, US 41 and Interstate 75 corridors.
• Important system linkage between the Veterans Expressway, Northeast Pinellas Highway, and Bi-County Expressway to the south, and the Tampa/Jacksonville Turnpike, Florida Turnpike Extension, and US 98 to the north.
• The project will provide a safe limited-access facility for law enforcement, emergency services and hurricane evacuation in the coastal area north of Tampa Bay.

Proposed Improvements

The North Suncoast Corridor project consists of constructing a multi-lane, limited access roadway located midway between US 19 and US 41 in Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando Counties, Florida. The project corridor extends from a connection to the Veterans Expressway (currently under construction and formerly the Northwest Expressway) in Hillsborough County to US 98 in Hernando County, a total length of approximately 43 miles (Figure 1-1). Various alternatives have been studied for this project in the North Suncoast Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Final Preliminary Engineering Reports. This document has been developed as two voiumes, referred to as Zone 1 (from the Veterans Expressway in Hillsborough County to State Road (SR) 52 in Pasco County), and Zone 2 (from SR 52 to US 98 in Hernando County).

The northern terminus of Zone 1 is the northern ramp terminals for a proposed interchange on the North Suncoast Expressway at SR 52 located between US 19 and US 41 in central Pasco County. The southern terminus is the Veterans Expressway near Van Dyke Road in northern Hillsborough County. The length of the proposed route in Zone 1 is approximately 15 miles. The proposed expressway provides four to six through-lanes, access to selected major roads by interchanges, overpasses at selected cross streets, and provisions for future commuter rail transit and/or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes within the roadway median. The proposed typical right-of-way width is 300 to 400 feet wide.