The 31-mile parkway, which stretches from the Veterans Expressway in Hillsborough through Pasco and Hernando counties, opened Feb. 4 with free tolls and heavier than expected traffic. After the first few tolls opened, parkway traffic from Feb. 19 to Sunday dropped more than 30 percent - less than state officials anticipated. During that span, traffic declined just 4 percent at the first Veterans Expressway toll plaza south of the new parkway. Even with the addition of parkway tolls, about 7,000 more cars a day continue to travel through the Veterans Expressway toll plaza near Ehrlich Road, according to a state comparison released Tuesday. State officials expect a 60 percent drop in parkway traffic by the time all the uncompleted toll booths begin collecting fares.
Officials expect the numbers to climb during the next five years.
During the first week of operation, an average of 17,800 cars per day passed through the Anclote toll plaza, just north of S.R. 54 in Pasco. But at the first Veterans Expressway toll plaza south of the parkway, daily traffic declined to 26,200 - just 1,000 fewer cars per day than the first week the parkway opened. The numbers show that while tolls may keep more cars off the northern end of the parkway, drivers on the southern stretch are more likely to continue heading south on the Veterans, Hurley said.