Interchange looped in for improvement

River Isles’ Don Bingham has been tracking proposed safety improvements at the intersection of State Road 64 and Interstate 75 for years. And he likes what he sees coming.

“It needs to be done,” Bingham said after reviewing intersection designs at a Florida Department of Transportation public workshop April 20 at RiverLife Church. “The way they’ve designed it looks like it will handle the traffic a lot better, particularly off the on- and off-ramps, which is the reason for the design.”

FDOT will transform the intersection by removing the I-75 off-ramp in the northeast corner of the intersection. It carries northbound I-75 traffic onto westbound S.R. 64. The new configuration will feature a longer northbound I-75 exit ramp from which traffic turns east or west at a signaled intersection onto S.R. 64.

The project also will widen bridges across S.R. 64, replace and widen entrance and exit ramps and widen S.R. 64 from 64th Street Court East to Grand Harbour Parkway, among other improvements.

FDOT expects to start construction on the $39.1 million two-year project shortly after Memorial Day.

FDOT officials said the new configuration will improve traffic flow and make the intersection safer because it reduces vehicular conflict points.

East County residents seem to agree.

“I think it will be easier to use, and more importantly, safer,” Mill Creek’s Rae Dowling said. “It’s a great improvement.”

Prince Contracting, the same company handling construction of the diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 75 and University Parkway, will complete the work.

“It’ll be a seamless transition,” FDOT Project Manager Marlena Gore said.

Roadway construction will take place at night to minimize the impact on traffic, although there will be some nighttime detours and lane closures. The bulk of daytime work will be outside traffic lanes, Gore said.

Construction will take about two years.