A lot of noise being made about latest I-75 improvements. Here’s what neighbors are hearing

The $74.5 million diverging diamond interchange at University Parkway and Interstate 75 was the first of its kind in Florida, the largest in the United States and even spawned a bumper sticker: I survived the diverging diamond.

When work started on the traditional diamond interchange at I-75 and State Road 64, a relatively modest $39.1 million project, it seemed almost old hat, attracting little of the statewide attention that was focused on University Parkway.

Now comes the diamond interchange project at I-75 and State Road 70, which comes with a $81 million price tag and promises to eclipse the two earlier projects.

And yet, when the Florida Department of Transportation held an informational meeting for the public in September at Manatee Technical College, the most frequently asked question was, “Will my neighborhood get a noise wall?”

The short answer is yes, and no, depending on the neighborhood.

Work on the project started in October, and on Tuesday, Marlena Gore, FDOT’s interstate construction project manager, presented an overview to Manatee County commissioners.

Neighborhoods that will be getting noise walls include Tara Preserve, Creekwood, River Place and Willowbrook, she said.

Work on the noise walls at Creekwood and Tara is expected to begin in early 2019, at River Place in mid-2019, and at Willowbrook in early 2020, Gore said.

Beyond noise walls, the project will rebuild the S.R. 70 interchange from its existing partial cloverleaf design to a modified diamond interchange design with a single loop in the northwest quadrant.

All I-75 northbound traffic will be combined into a single ramp in the southeast quadrant.

Interchange improvements also will include replacement of entrance and exit ramps and the addition of emergency stopping sites on the exit ramps.

The redesign will provide a much longer entrance onto I-75, making it easier for drivers to merge into traffic, Gore said.

An interim widening project will expand 6.75 miles of I-75 to an eight-lane highway with three through lanes and an auxiliary lane in each direction.

Also planned: the rebuilding of the I-75 bridges over S.R. 70 and widening of the I-75 bridges at the Braden River.

FDOT will widen about 1.15 miles of State Road 70 from east of Tara Boulevard to west of 87th Street East to accommodate the interchange improvements.

Other improvements to State Road 70 will include 5-foot wide sidewalks with high-emphasis crosswalks, and 6.5-foot bike buffered lanes.

In the future, I-75 will be widened to 10 lanes plus auxiliary lanes. The interstate will include two express lanes, three general-use lanes and an auxiliary lane in each direction between University Parkway and State Road 64. The improvements are planned to extend the acceptable level of service for I-75 beyond 2050, according to FDOT.

Work on the I-75-S.R. 70 interchange project is forecast to be completed by fall of 2021.

But the schedule is tentative, subject to change and weather permitting, Gore said.

County commissioners praised FDOT for the traffic improvements underway in Manatee County.

Of particular interest were the noise walls.

Frustrated Tara Preserve residents have long lobbied for a noise wall.

In 2014, an FDOT official gave them a glimmer of hope: “There is a design project currently ongoing for improvements to S.R. 70 and I-75,” Robin Stublen said.

“A noise study of this area is included with this design project, including a survey of impacted and benefited residents, just as was done for the I-75 and University design project,” Stublen said in 2014.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Betsy Benac asked whether there might be another approach for neighborhoods that unsuccessfully lobbied for noise walls.

Is there a provision for those neighborhoods to build a noise wall through a special taxing district, she wondered.

“Not that I am aware of,” Gore replied.

For more information or to comment on the project visit http://www.swflroads.com/i75/sr70/.

This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 6:00 AM.