Traffic along Deltona Boulevard in Hernando County is getting heavier and heavier.

Olga Selinsky tries to avoid it as much as possible.

“Frustrating, nerve-racking, and I’m always thinking that I’m going to get hit from behind,” Selinsky said.

The county had plans to widen Deltona from Forest Oaks Boulevard to Spring Hill Drive. Plans were also in the works to ease traffic on Barclay Avenue from Powell Road to State Road 50 and widen Elgin Boulevard from Mariner to Village Van Gogh. But those projects are on hold.

The county was planning on using impact fee money to pay for the road improvements, but since new-home construction is down, all of that money has dried up.

In 2005 Hernando County collected about $32 million in impact fees. In 2006 the total dropped to about $24 million and so far this year only about $4 million has been collected.

Impact fees are collected from new construction to help pay for the county’s growth needs.

County commissioner Dave Russell said even though growth is slow, that money still needs to be collected because there is so much catching up to do.

“It’s important we stay ahead of the growth curve, and that’s been the pattern in the past,” Russell said. “We’ve been playing catch up, catch up, catch up.”

But until the building comes back, and impact fee revenue rebounds, drivers in Hernando have no choice but to be patient.

Russell said there is a study in progress to see if the county should raise impact fees. In the meantime, Hernando County Public Works officials are going to revise the county’s five-year road plan to see if plans can continue with at least a few of the road projects.

Information gathered from Baynews9.com

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