Lena Road will connect State Road 64 to State Road 70 on Oct. 1

Life is full of compromises, so Manatee County has come to a compromise when it comes to the Lena Road project.

Lena Road will connect from State Road 64 to State Road 70 as of Oct. 1, but it will not be the “urban corridor” that was initially planned as one of the “Big Six” road projects listed in the capital improvement plan. 

Ogden Clark, communications coordinator for Public Works, said that part of the rationale for the compromise was that the opening of 44th Avenue East in August wouldn’t be as “impactful” without that additional north-south connector. 

However, the connection comes with caveats. 

The connection is not a straight shot between State Road 64 and State Road 70. The segment of road between 41st Avenue East and the Lena Road Landfill shifts to the west and runs parallel to 81st Court East. 

Courtesy image

Drivers heading north to State Road 64 will have to stop and take a left turn to continue onto Lena Road. Heading south through that section will be a little easier because only one right turn from 41st Avenue East is required, but drivers can’t turn left once they reach State Road 70. 

If heading east, Clark said drivers will still be better off to take 44th Avenue East to Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. But he used residents in the Tara Community as an example of those who might benefit from the connection because Tara is located to the west of Lena Road.

Rosedale Golf and Country Club residents could also benefit from the connection because they can take 54th Drive East from Lena Road straight to the entrance of their community. However, some residents worry that those outside their community will make it a habit, too.

There’s a stoplight at the intersection of Rosedale’s entrance at 87th Street East and State Road 70, so drivers could cut across 54th Drive East to the Rosedale entrance, wait for the light and head east on State Road 70. 

Rosedale’s Fred Booth said he and other residents would’ve liked the county to make changes to the road so trucks were prevented from turning left onto 54th Drive East, but signs went up instead. 

The signs restrict commercial vehicles from using 54th Drive East as a through street. Now that the signs are up, Clark said law enforcement can enforce the action. 

On July 29, commissioners adopted an ordinance that not only restricts commercial vehicles on 54th Drive East, but also the misaligned section of Lena Road that winds around from 41st Avenue East to 81st Court East, which meets the Lena Road landfill.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

County staff deemed the two streets too narrow to accommodate heavy vehicle traffic. 

Justin Rourk, project manager for Public Works, said the landfill is directing all its trucks to come and go from State Road 64, and any truck that comes from State Road 70 or 44th Avenue East could lose its ability to dump at the landfill. 

Part of the overall “Big Six” plan for Lena Road is to realign that segment of Lena Road so it will be a straight shot between State Road 64 and State Road 70. 

While construction costs are not funded within the capital improvement plan, there is $15 million earmarked for 2026. Clark said that when the county knows a project is needed, even without a construction budget in place, funding is often set aside for land acquisition and design.

Rourk confirmed that the roundabouts planned for Lena Road are in the design phase and will eventually be located at the entrance of the landfill and at Musgrave Road. 

For now, Manatee County performed some resurfacing work and widened the shoulders along 41st Avenue East and in front of the landfill. Permanent striping still needs to be finished, but that work will be done after the connection opens on Oct. 1.

44th Avenue East 

The 44th Avenue East extension project was touted by county officials as a “reliever road.” The expectation was that traffic on State Road 64 and State Road 70 would lessen when 44th Avenue East opened. 

The connection on Lena Road is expected to help add to that relief.

A series of permanent and temporary traffic counters have been monitoring the new roadway. The permanent count stations process the number of vehicles every five minutes to produce daily traffic counts. 

So far, the number of cars traveling on State Road 64 and State Road 70 have not decreased significantly. 

However, Ogden Clark, communications coordinator for Public Works, said it will naturally happen over time. Residents aren't used to 44th Avenue East being open yet.

Another contributing factor to the counts not dropping as expected on the state roads could simply be that school is back in session. Across the board, traffic numbers increase with the start of a new school year. 

The positive information coming out of the traffic counts is that the number of cars traveling on 44th Avenue East are well below its capacity of 36,000 vehicles per day.

Clark emphasized that in this case, not living up to the expectation is “a good thing.” The same day Manatee County opened the Fort Hamer bridge, it was over its capacity.

“We’re ahead of some of that growth (in East County),” he said. “There’s room and capacity for 44th Avenue East to absorb it.”