Update: Possible Sinkhole Closes Part of State Road 52

A portion of the road in the Land O’ Lakes area is inaccessible to motorists.

Update, 4:50 p.m.: The Florida Department of Transportation is reporting that State Road 52 is now open in both directions and that repairs are now complete. Update, 11:56 a.m.: The Florida Department of Transportation is reporting that traffic is now moving in this area of State Road 52, but that a flagging operation is on site as repairs are made. The small hole that appeared in the roadway this morning involves a water pipe under the road, a FDOT media alert states. Update, 11:26 a.m.: One lane is now open on State Road 52 between Ehren Cutoff Road and U.S. 41. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office advises that traffic could be heavy in this area for some time as the Florida Department of Transportation works on roadway repairs. Earlier: …

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Sherri Lonon

10:54 am on Monday, April 30, 2012

Anyone get caught in this? How congested are the alternative routes?   more ›

Moving Forward, Looking Back

52: From Sand Ruts to a State Road

State Road 52 was Pasco's first paved cross-county highway.

Modern-day travelers of State Road 52 might take for granted the ease in which they move from Pasco’s west coast through Land O' Lakes and to Dade City, or vice versa. However, prior to the mid-1920s, Pasco had no such road. Instead, as a major road network, residents relied upon a meandering course of sand ruts leading to the county seat. So, how was it that one meandering course of sand ruts became what we now know as State Road 52 — uniting the county’s east and west via the first hard-surfaced, cross-county highway? County road construction in the 1920s was at an all-time high as commissioners begged and borrowed through special bonds, bank loans and increased millage rates to cover costs. Pasco already had a good north to south hard-…

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