Belcher Road Extension is Open to the PublicPinellas County Department of Public Works advises motorists that a new, four-lane divided roadway extension of Belcher Road officially opened to traffic on Tuesday, Aug. 28. This new two-mile stretch of roadway connects Klosterman Road, at the Tarpon Springs south city line, to Alderman Road in Palm Harbor. The extension allows motorists to now travel a 30-mile direct route from Tarpon Springs to Tyrone Boulevard in St. Petersburg. The Belcher Road extension will alleviate traffic on the Palm Harbor section of U.S. Highway 19 and local area roads as well. A projected 20,000 vehicles per day are expected to use this new road segment; by the year 2025, that volume is anticipated to increase to 34,000 annually. With the opening of the extension, the county is also advising motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians that four miles of pedestrian sidewalks and 4-foot bike lanes have been installed and border each side of the road. The new bike lanes connect the county's bike lane system to the Pinellas Trail and to St. Petersburg College, Tarpon Springs campus. To support traffic capacity and smooth traffic flow, underground communication conduit was included to further the installation of the Countywide Intelligent Transportation System, Advanced Transportation Management System (ITS/ATMS). The design is under way to complete the system along Belcher Road by December 2008. New traffic signal timing has been implemented on Belcher Road from Klosterman to Curlew roads to accommodate the increased north-south traffic flow. For emergency needs, a signal has been added for local fire-and-rescue vehicle access to Belcher Road. In addition, students and faculty of St. Petersburg College can access the campus through an important new entrance. Begun in March of 2006, the $12.5 million project was funded by Penny for Pinellas and a state grant fund. Motorists are advised to use caution while familiarizing themselves with the new roadway. For information regarding Pinellas County Public Works projects, please visit http://www.pinellascounty.org/PublicWorks.
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