Residents in Land O’ Lakes, Odessa and Lutz will get a say in which major road projects move forward across Tampa Bay under a new tri-county pilot program announced Tuesday, Aug. 25.
The Hillsborough TPO, Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization and Forward Pinellas are launching the Tampa Bay Transportation Project Prioritization Initiative, an effort to score transportation projects on both local and regional merit. Each agency currently develops its own transportation-improvement program and priority-project list.
The plan, announced by Plan Hillsborough, will ask the public what matters most when deciding which projects get funded. A project website is expected to launch this fall with opportunities for residents to weigh in.
The Federal Highway Administration is funding the effort through a $1.056 million grant from its Prioritization Process Pilot Program, created under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The federal program provides grants of up to $2 million and can cover 100% of costs. Eligible MPOs must develop a publicly accessible scoring system, assess projects on cost-benefit and public support, and explain why each project was or was not selected.
No specific projects or corridors have been named for evaluation.
The three MPOs have been moving toward closer collaboration since 2023, when they signed a memorandum of understanding to explore merging the three agencies into a single regional body. A survey that year drew 1,700 responses across the three counties, with top priorities including connecting residents to jobs, data-driven decisions and multimodal transportation options.
The Plan Hillsborough announcement was written by staff planners Gail Reese, Erika Flores, Brynn Dauphinais and Harmoni McGee. The Courier contacted the Hillsborough TPO for additional comment but did not receive a response before publication.
No public hearing date or formal comment deadline has been set. Residents can watch for the project website this fall or contact the Pasco County MPO at (727) 847-8140 for updates on how to participate.
