Manatee County Interchange project ramps up

Every workday, Janet Reardon leaves her home in Fairway Gardens II, off State Road 70, and takes Interstate 75 to her job at Publix at Market Street in Lakewood Ranch.

She lived through the daily commute through the diverging diamond interchange at University Parkway and I-75 while it was under construction and called the experience “horrendous.” Soon, she’ll be tackling construction traffic again, but even closer to home as the Florida Department of Transportation begins a project to widen I-75 between University Parkway and State Road 70 and reconfigure the intersection of State Road 70.

Florida Department of Transportation officials and contractors associated with the project were at Manatee Technical College Oct. 19 for a public information meeting on the project. Guests could watch a video about the plans, review maps and documents and discuss concerns or questions with FDOT staff members.

Reardon said the pain of more construction will be worth the outcome.

“For me right now, it’s scary,” she said of the intersection. “It’s definitely going to be safer.”

FDOT will begin tackling one of Reardon’s major concerns by eliminating the weaving pattern of traffic that occurs because northbound I-75 traffic exiting to go west on S.R. 70 is so close to westbound S.R. 70 traffic exiting to head south on I-75.

The interchange at S.R. 70 and I-75 will take on the configuration now being constructed at the State Road 64 exit from I-75, with the loop ramps in the northwest and northeast quadrants replaced with a single loop ramp in the northwest quadrant. Project Manager Jeffrey Mednick said FDOT will build new exit ramps from I-75, so the new design will improve safety.

The project also includes widening a 6.75-mile section of Interstate 75 from north of University Parkway to south of State Road 64, as well as the widening of State Road 70 to include sidewalks and buffered bicycle lanes from east of Tara Boulevard to west of 87th Street East, a distance of 1.5 miles.

Mednick said the project, which should begin construction in the summer, is in the final phases of design. Construction timelines have not yet been determined,  but completion is expected by fall 2020.

Tara Preserve’s Beth Strub said the project will be wonderful when it’s finished.

“We have to move people. You leave your beautiful home, make the (horrible) drive and go to your beautiful destination,” she said. “It will make the drive simpler.”

Strub, like many of her neighbors in Tara Preserve, also said she was excited about a sound barrier wall to be installed along I-75 as part of the project, although she wished it would be done sooner.

Residents of the Tara community also expressed concerns about how westbound S.R. 70 traffic interacts with the intersection of Tara-Creekwood boulevards, particularly with drivers doing U-turns at Tara Boulevard to turn around and go east as residents of Tara make a conflicting right-hand turn onto S.R. 70. The intersection, particularly in relation to egress from Creekwood Plaza, is not functioning well, they said.

“This is a failure by FDOT to understand local conditions,” Tara’s Cathy Woolley said.

Richard Bajkowski agreed the U-turn issue needs to be resolved, as do problems from traffic leaving Creekwood Plaza.

Steve McWilliams, FDOT’s engineer of record, said there are no improvements planned to Tara Boulevard at this time. However, FDOT will review public comments collected at last week’s meeting.