New year offers growing pains for Manatee's transportation grid

Although Manatee County and the Florida Department of Transportation have multiple projects in progress for the Lakewood Ranch area, few will see completion in 2018.

Unlike 2017, which produced the newly opened Fort Hamer Bridge, the diverging diamond at University Parkway and Interstate 75 and an extension of Lorraine Road south to Fruitville Road, 2018 promises plenty of change but without many tangible results.

Motorists will see construction-related delays due to the projects.

The only projects expected to be finished will be the placement of temporary traffic signals at the intersections of State Road 64 with Rye and Lorraine Roads.

Most of the projects are in planning, such as  FDOT’s plans to construct a modern roundabout at the Rye Road intersection of S.R. 64. FDOT is evaluating designs at the intersections of Lorraine Road and Greyhawk Boulevard with S.R. 64.

“The Greyhawk Boulevard and Lorraine Road intersections are currently being studied for potential future improvements,” FDOT spokesman Zach Burch said.

He said Lorraine Road is scheduled to have a temporary traffic signal installed early in 2018, with construction anticipated to be complete by the summer, weather permitting. He said the estimated cost of the temporary signal at S.R. 64 and Lorraine Road is $255,000.

The Rye Road temporary signal project is expected to be finished by late spring, weather permitting. Burch said. FDOT has budgeted $5.6 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget for construction of the Rye Road roundabout.

The FDOT already has begun construction to reconfigure the intersection of State Road 64 and Interstate 75 — a $39.1 million project expected to be finished in fall 2019. The roughly $111 million reconfiguration of the State Road 70 and I-75 interchange is expected to start in the fall.

Additionally, FDOT continues a study about widening S.R. 70 east of Lorraine Road for about six miles to County Road 675, but construction is not funded until the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Manatee County Public Works Director Ron Schulhofer said his department’s focus will continue to be the eastward expansion of 44th Avenue East. The county is acquiring land for the segment from 45th Street East west across the Braden River. The bridge across the river is being permitted.

“We’ve got the design to a point we can buy property (needed for the road),” Schulhofer said.

That section will run from 45th Street East to 44th Avenue Plaza East. The project will reconfigure the existing intersection of 44th and Morgan Johnson Road. The third and final section will be from 44th Avenue Plaza East across I-75 to just west of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

“Forty-fourth is huge,” Schulhofer said. “This is going to eat our money up. When it’s done, you will be able to leave Lakewood Ranch on 44th and go to the beach or leave the beach and go inland.”

Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch has constructed portions of 44th Avenue in Lakewood Ranch and will eventually extend it eastward to Lorraine Road.

A few other projects are in the works, including improvements to 45th Street East, south from 44th Avenue to State Road 70. The $6.2 million project includes widening 1.5 miles of 45th Street East from two to four lanes, and reconfiguring its intersection with S.R. 70 to improve flow.

Manatee County also has budgeted about $5.1 million for improvements around the intersection of Market Street and University Parkway. Improvements include adding turn lanes at the Market Street, Town Center Parkway and Lakewood Ranch Parkway intersections with University as well as along University Parkway. The changes should improve overall traffic capacity.

The intersection is not yet failing, but Schulhofer wants to be proactive.

“It needs help,” he said of the location. “That’s why we put it in (our improvement plan). We want to fix the intersection before it fails.”