$145 million project will remake I-75 at Manatee River. It will take 4 years to finish
The largest Interstate 75 improvement project in the Bradenton area since the highway was extended through Manatee County is set to begin in early 2021 at a cost of $145 million, and take four years to complete.
The project will begin just north of Ellenton Premium Outlets and extend south to the interchange with State Road 64.
The project will widen I-75 and reconstruct the I-75-U.S. 301 interchange from a partial cloverleaf to a tight diamond configuration. The interchange ramp reconfiguration is designed to improve safety on U.S. 301 by eliminating weaving maneuvers by drivers between the existing off and on-ramps.
The new interchange will simplify entering and leaving the interchange near Ellenton Premium Outlets and the Florida International Trade Port.
New bridges will be constructed over the Manatee River for a northbound exit ramp and a southbound entrance ramp to improve ramp safety and relieve the backups of traffic onto the interstate mainline.
The widening and reconstruction of I-75 will provide for an eight-lane divided roadway with 12-foot inside and outside shoulders (10-foot paved) and a median that varies from 64 feet to 161 feet. A depressed median with roadside ditches will be used to carry storm water.
The redesign of the I-75 at US 301 interchange is designed to not only handle the existing six lanes of traffic more efficiently, but to accommodate up to 10 lanes (two managed lanes and three general use lanes in each direction).
These future ultimate improvements are planned to extend the acceptable level of service for I-75 well beyond 2050.
“It involves a bridge and is much more expensive than a typical interchange project,” said Dave Hutchinson, executive director of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Organization.
The MPO allows local governments within the region to coordinate projects and priorities with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.
“Right now, a lot of projects could be affected by the revenue shortfall because of COVID-19. But this one is still good from what we see,” Hutchinson said.
The project will include the construction noise walls for the neighborhood north of Kay Road and along Manatee Palms, and intersection improvements at U.S. 301 and 51st Avenue East, 60th Avenue East, and 19th Street East, all in the Ellenton area. Bicycle and sidewalk improvements are also planned.
A portion of Whiskey Joe’s 19th Street East frontage is scheduled to become a cul de sac when the on-ramp to southbound I-75 is constructed from U.S. 301. Several years ago, FDOT acquired the vacant Johnny Leverock’s Seafood House next door to Whiskey Joe’s for construction of the on-ramp.
This project is a design-build contract, meaning FDOT will award the final design and construction to a single bidder. Oftentimes, the bidder is a partnership between an engineering firm that designs the project and a contractor.
The I-75-U.S. 301 project is part of the FDOT master plan to replace I-75 interchanges in Manatee and Sarasota counties, which started with the $75 million diverging diamond on University Parkway. The diverging diamond interchange, the first in Florida, opened in 2017.
FDOT followed up the diverging diamond project with interchange improvements at State Road 64 at a cost of $39.1 million. Improvements to the interchange project at I-75 and State Road 70 are expected to cost $81 million.
Ryan Brown, a transportation planner for the Sarasota/Manatee MPO, likened the I-75-U.S. 301 interchange to “the gateway to the whole region,” when interviewed about the project by the Herald in 2018.
An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 cars travel daily across the Trooper J.D. Young Memorial Bridge over the Manatee River.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
