Crews have set the concrete beams for a brand-new southbound bridge carrying US 301 over the Withlacoochee River, a visible milestone in the long-running project to turn the crash-prone Treiman Boulevard corridor into a four-lane divided highway between Pasco and Hernando counties.
The update came Thursday from FDOT West Central - Tampa Area, the agency's official account for District 7, which posted photos of the new span taking shape. The new bridge will carry southbound traffic once complete, while the existing US 301 bridge over the river will be converted to handle northbound lanes only, according to the same post. Both the vehicular bridge and a dedicated pedestrian bridge over the river will each stretch 360 feet across five spans, resting on 24-inch square prestressed concrete piles, according to FDOT District 7 Studies.
The concrete beams have been set for the new southbound US 301 bridge over the Withlacoochee River.
— FDOT West Central - Tampa Area (@MyFDOT_Tampa) September 10, 2026
Stay up to date on this project at: https://t.co/sg2ifCMsGA pic.twitter.com/t8AB0Pzojl
A Corridor With a Troubled Safety Record
The bridge work is part of the broader $87.3 million widening project spanning 4.2 miles from north of Marka Drive near Dade City in Pasco County to just south of Ridge Manor Boulevard near SR 50 in Hernando County, per FDOT's project details shared in the same post. Design began in July 2024, major construction started in summer 2025, and the project is expected to wrap up in fall 2028, with contractor Prince-Ajax US-301 Mobility Partners handling the build.
The push to widen this stretch didn't come out of nowhere. FDOT safety analysis covering 2014 to 2018 recorded 106 crashes along the 4.2-mile corridor, a segment crash rate more than double the statewide average for similar rural arterial highways, per the same FDOT District 7 Studies report. Angle collisions were the most frequent crash type during that window at 39 percent, and the intersection at Trilby Road, now signed as CR 575, accounted for 31 of those crashes and two fatal wrecks, the report notes. That intersection is slated to get a roundabout as part of the redesign.
The stakes of leaving the road unchanged were made painfully clear in May, when a fatal head-on collision on Treiman Boulevard near Belt Drive killed a Zephyrhills driver and set a semi-truck ablaze, as Hoodline reported at the time. That crash underscored the persistent danger of the two-lane undivided road that FDOT's median-divider design is intended to prevent.
Freight, Congestion, and a Trail Connection
Beyond safety, FDOT planning documents frame the US 301 expansion as a critical freight corridor upgrade, offering trucks a high-capacity parallel alternative to Interstate 75 through Pasco and Hernando counties, according to the contamination screening report from FDOT District 7 Studies. The corridor's northern end feeds directly into one of the county's worst chokepoints: Hernando County's 2025 Congestion Management Process update identified the westbound SR 50 approach at Treiman Boulevard as one of the county's worst recurring weekday bottlenecks, with average daily queues stretching nearly three-quarters of a mile, according to Hernando County's own findings.
The project also touches Florida's recreational trail network. The widening connects near the southern terminus of the Withlacoochee State Trail at Owensboro Junction in Pasco County, a 46-mile paved rail-trail that runs north to Citrus County and ranks as the state's longest, per the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The new pedestrian bridge over the river will give trail users a dedicated crossing separate from vehicle traffic. FDOT is also building a companion project nearby: a $146.7 million widening and realignment of US 98 in Pasco County, due for completion in fall 2028, which will add a 10-foot shared-use path linking directly to the Withlacoochee State Trail along US 301, according to FDOT Tampa Bay.
Addressing Flooding Concerns
Given the river's history of dramatic swings, flooding is a natural worry for residents near the construction zone. A hydrological modeling study by the Southwest Florida Water Management District found that while the Withlacoochee River can rise more than 10 feet during extreme weather events near Trilby, roadway and bridge structures contribute less than one inch to flood crest levels, with natural terrain shifts exiting the Green Swamp driving most of the flooding instead.
For now, FDOT says there are no lane closures tied to the project, and work continues on the bridge, drainage, lighting, signing, and signalization elements that make up the wider $87.3 million contract. A traffic signal is also planned for the US 301 and US 98 intersection as part of the overall build-out.
