Ramp to I-75 has been closed longer than expected. Here’s when long wait finally might end
It was supposed to be a 10-month project, Florida Department of Transportation officials said, when they announced in 2018 that they temporarily were closing the ramp to northbound Interstate 75 off I-275 in Manatee County.
The ramp needed to close while a contractor replaced the concrete bridge deck on the southbound I-275 ramp to northbound I-75, FDOT said.
Fifteen months later, the ramp remains closed but could reopen by late November, FDOT communications specialist Brian R. Rick said in an email to the Bradenton Herald on Tuesday.
“We currently anticipate the ramp opening to traffic in late November. Unfortunately, there were delays as a result of unknown deterioration to portions of the bridge structure which needed to be addressed. When the deterioration was found, an engineering analysis was required to determine what additional work would be necessary to complete the project,” Rick wrote.
“The contractor has since completed those repairs and is actively working to finish the project as quickly as possible. Weather has also been a contributing factor to the delays throughout construction. Most of what is happening on the ramp right now isn’t necessarily visible to drivers since the structure is above the highway.”
In the interim, FDOT officials suggested northbound drivers take U.S. 41 north to College Avenue in Ruskin, then rejoin northbound I-75.
Some drivers sought a workaround by taking Moccasin Wallow Road, a two-lane country road in the midst of the Parrish building boom.
Moccasin Wallow has become overburdened with the opening of the new Parrish Community High School and the Publix supermarket at its interchange with I-75, Parrish Civic Association president Gretchen Fowler said.
“With FDOT, you just come to expect that nothing will be done on time,” Fowler said, adding that drivers have become desensitized to the inconvenience.
Although Fowler welcomed the news that the I-75 ramp could open in late November, she noted that the Parrish community has not stood still during the project and has continued to grow.
The cost to repair the overpass bridge was estimated at $8 million and was expected to be completed by late 2019 or early 2020, according to the FDOT construction page.
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