- December 4, 2025
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A Manatee County project that was imagined in the 1960s, added to the comprehensive plan in the late 1980s and began construction in 2013 is complete.
The final phase of the 44th Avenue extension will be open to drivers as of Aug. 9, just in time for the start of the new school year on Aug. 11.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Aug. 4 to celebrate the completion of the long awaited connection between Lakewood Ranch and Bradenton.
“We no longer have a bridge to nowhere,” said Dr. Bob McCann, District 5 commissioner and the ceremony’s emcee. “This extension represents years of planning, collaboration and dedication to improving mobility in Manatee County.”
McCann noted that the completed roadway is anticipated to relieve State Road 64 and State Road 70 of about 21,000 vehicles a day.
With a disclaimer that she’s not the Florida Department of Transportation, former District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh called the estimate of 21,000 vehicles conservative. She bets the number will be higher.
“(The extension) is going to be a huge success for Manatee County,” she said. “It’s a big road that we need to help the grid more successfully handle traffic.”
While invited, Baugh couldn’t attend the ribbon cutting ceremony. She will, however, be taking a drive over the interstate on Saturday when the extension officially opens to motorists.
Baugh was elected to the commission in 2012, just one year before work on the first leg of the extension began. She represented District 5 for over 10 years, and for the entirety of her term, “There was always something going on with 44th Avenue.”
Baugh said it took longer to build the extension than it took to build any other road in Manatee County. The project took continuous effort to make sure it kept moving forward.
The challenges and delays came in all forms — engineering, funding, right-of-way acquisitions, gopher tortoise relocations and working around bald eagles’ nests.
Baugh called the finished extension “a miracle.” Residents felt the same. They coined the extension “the road to nowhere.”
“People didn’t think that the Bradenton side would ever hook up to the Lakewood Ranch side,” Baugh said. “When I left the board (in 2023), I could see where it was crossing Interstate 75, and I thought, ‘Thank God, this is going to be finished.’”
Baugh credited two men outside of Manatee County for helping the extension reach the finish line — Rex Jensen, CEO and president of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, and Bill Galvano, former president of the Florida Senate.
SMR built nearly all of 44th Avenue on the Lakewood Ranch side, east of the Rosedale Golf and Country Club.
“That’s all paid for by the development, so at no taxpayer expense outside of the people who are directly receiving that benefit in Lakewood Ranch,” said Laura Cole, senior vice president of Lakewood Ranch. “It’s a great example of public-private partnerships.”
The extension west of Rosedale cost the county over $268.1 million.
Baugh said the extension will be worth every dime once open, but it wouldn’t have been built without Galvano’s support because funding was the county’s biggest obstacle.
Galvano helped secure $20 million for the project during his time in the Senate. In 2020, commissioners voted to designate the section of 44th Avenue from U.S. 41 to Lakewood Ranch Boulevard as the Honorable State Senate President Bill Galvano Parkway.
While the board lobbied Galvano for his assistance, Baugh noted that he was born and raised in Manatee County so the project was important to him, too.
The extension was so massive that it had to be phased, but as the phases moved forward, Baugh said the board had to keep coming up with “millions and millions of dollars.” The cost kept increasing as prices kept increasing.
Baugh remembered being commission chair and signing for a $390 million bond that was dedicated solely to transportation issues, and a chunk of it was earmarked for 44th Avenue.
“We were pretty much handling it ourselves; Manatee County paid for most of that road,” she said. “When you look at the size of the road and how many years it took to get done, it’s quite a feat for a county of our size.”
One major engineering obstacle faced when planning to extend 44th Avenue was how to get around the interstate. The solution was to cross over it.
“The 44th Avenue Overpass, what I like to call ‘the bridge with a purpose,’ is truly unique,” said John Kubler, District 1 director of operations for the Florida Department of Transportation.
Kubler cited three reasons for calling the final phase of 44th Avenue unique.
One, the 380-foot-long bridge that passes over I-75 is just one part of a nearly two-mile-long project, from Creekwood Boulevard to Solutions Lane, that also passes over a lake at the Southeast Water Reclamation Facility and includes a roundabout at Lena Road.
Two, the segment required a substantial investment in terms of costs ($160 million) and collaborations. And finally, Kubler said the project reflects the best of what can happen when local government, FDOT and the contracting community come together with a common vision and mutual respect.
Kubler also noted the safety features the new roadway offers, including a divided median to help pedestrians and cyclists safely cross and fewer bottlenecks for drivers, which equates to “fewer crashes and maybe even a little less honking.”
The four-lane corridor also features sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, multi-use trails and enhanced lighting.
“This overpass creates a strong, safe link between Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch, two thriving and fast growing areas,” Kubler said. “It’s the kind of project that shows what thoughtful infrastructure can do — connect communities, provide quality of life and get ahead of growth, instead of being overwhelmed by it.”
