Gunn Highway Closure: How Keystone Fall Events Fit Around It

For about four weeks this fall, one stretch of Gunn Highway near the Pasco County line will be closed. The start date is still unsettled, so it's hard to say which weekends will be affected. If the newer date holds, the closure takes November and leaves October open. Then it reopens just before the biggest weekend on Gunn Highway's own calendar.

What follows is the season in order. The dates on either side of the closure matter more than the closure itself.

What Crews Are Actually Replacing

The work is at 18830 Gunn Highway. Hillsborough County Public Works will remove a 5-foot-by-10-foot box culvert and replace it with two 53-inch-by-83-inch elliptical reinforced concrete pipes. The County's project page says the current culvert is near the end of its lifespan and needs replacing to prevent a possible failure. The job is part of the County's Culvert Renewal and Replacement Program.

It's a lot of traffic to reroute. Bay News 9 reported that County data shows about 20,000 vehicles a day travel through or near the work area. The official detour runs Lutz Lake Fern Road to Dale Mabry Highway to Van Dyke Road. The Veterans Expressway is another option, but regular tolls apply. The County says message boards will go up along the detour at least seven days before the closure, and navigation apps will get the detour information.

Two Start Dates, One Road

The calendar gets complicated here. Hillsborough County's Sept. 10 announcement and its project page both say the closure begins "on or after Oct. 12, 2026" and lasts up to 28 days. That's today.

On Oct. 6, Keystone Bible Church at 10925 Tarpon Springs Road posted an update for people who drive Gunn Highway to its Odessa campus. Its road closure notice crosses out "Monday, October 12" and says the closure will now start Thursday, November 5 and last about four weeks. The church also describes the segment a little differently, as Tarpon Springs Road to Lutz Lake Fern Road. Bay News 9 reported the County's plan as Van Dyke Road to Lutz Lake Fern Road.

The church's notice doesn't say why the date changed. The County's page still lists the October date and gives "Late 2026" as the estimated completion. It also notes that weather can cause delays. The church's advice works for either date:

"If you normally use Gunn Highway, please plan an alternate route and allow extra time for your drive, especially during the first several days of the closure as traffic patterns adjust!"

The church posted four alternate route maps with that notice. They're worth looking at before the first detour morning.

Here's how the two dates play out on the calendar:

October Is the Open Window

If the November date holds, everything still on the October calendar happens with Gunn Highway open. Most of it is right on Keystone's west side.

Brooker Creek Preserve, at 3940 Keystone Road in Tarpon Springs, runs a full October program from its Environmental Education Center. The preserve's calendar lists:

• Oct. 16, 9:30 to 11 a.m. Florida Forests Hike
• Oct. 17 A family nature hike and "Life of a Dead Tree"
• Oct. 18, 1 to 2 p.m. Botanical "Tea Time"
• Oct. 23 Stories & Songs and a Homeschool Hive
• Oct. 24 A guided hike, a $25 bat-box workshop and a night hike with a requested $3 donation
• Oct. 31 "The Nature of Owls," with live owls

The preserve's posted schedule ends at Oct. 31, so November programs aren't listed yet. Four Lakes Hammock, the planned recreation area at the preserve, is still in design. Pinellas County expects to finish the design in fall 2026 and projects construction for spring 2027. It won't open this fall.

Raprager Farms, at 16907 Boy Scout Road in Odessa, runs its Fall Festival on select Friday-through-Sunday dates from September through November, with pumpkins, hayrides and animals. A Kids Out and About listing shows festival weekends on Oct. 16 to 18 and Oct. 23 to 25. It also notes that dates can change. The farm also advertises after-dark Halloween activities after 6 p.m. on select October nights. It sends visitors to its ticket listings for the exact dates.

One more event is close by. Watermelon Swim's free Lutz Fall Festival is Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. at 19509 Dale Mabry Highway, with trunk-or-treating, bounce houses and pumpkin painting. Dale Mabry is also part of the official detour. After the closure starts, more traffic will be using that road.

The New Places Worth Trying Before the Detour

Some of the season's openings are a short drive south and east. Once Gunn Highway closes, though, some of those trips get longer.

Tampa Bay Beacons reported today that HomeGoods and Total Wine & More are open at Citrus Park Plaza, across from Citrus Park Town Center. Nordstrom Rack is scheduled to open to the public Oct. 22.

Two restaurants changed in 2026. Scarpino's Classic Italian opened in April in the former Nabruzzi Trattoria space at 6062 Van Dyke Road in Lutz, according to Tampa Bay Beacons. It serves daily from 11 a.m. Van Dyke Road is part of the detour too. Mother's reopened May 29 in a larger space at 3825 Northdale Blvd., with a revised menu and a new chef. The Tampa Bay Times reported that it opens daily at 11 a.m.

November on the Detour

If the closure starts Nov. 5 and runs the full 28 days, it covers every Thursday in November, including Thanksgiving on Nov. 26. Holiday trips to Citrus Park Plaza, family drop-offs, and errands that usually go straight down Gunn Highway would all take the Lutz Lake Fern, Dale Mabry and Van Dyke loop instead.

Raprager Farms will be getting ready for its next season during the same weeks. The farm advertises "Christmas on the Farm" from late November through December, with lights, Santa visits and local shopping. Exact dates and ticket details haven't been posted yet.

The Weekend Right at the Seam

This is where the closure dates matter most. The Lutz Arts and Crafts Show, put on by the GFWC Lutz-Land O' Lakes Woman's Club, is Dec. 5 and 6 at Keystone Prep High School, 18105 Gunn Highway in Odessa. According to the club's information brochure, hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The club's materials don't list admission.

The show is on Gunn Highway itself. Under the church's Nov. 5 date, a 28-day closure would end around Dec. 3, two days before the show opens. The County has already said weather can push the schedule back, and its completion estimate is just "Late 2026." A short delay could put the last days of the detour on show weekend. The message boards the County puts along the route will be the first place to see an updated schedule.

Under the County's original Oct. 12 date, the timing works out the other way. Roughly 28 days would put the reopening around Nov. 9, and that same stretch would also take in the last two Raprager festival weekends and every Brooker Creek program still on the October calendar.

Projects like the Gunn Highway culvert change how Keystone works day to day: which routes people take, which weekends are easy, and how long the drive to Van Dyke or Citrus Park takes for a month. That kind of local detail is part of how Christina Colon helps clients understand a neighborhood beyond the listing. If you live in Keystone and are thinking ahead, or you want a calm, straight read on how changes like this affect a move, let's connect.