State Road 70 improvements prioritized for 2024

With the "Moving Florida Forward" program receiving partial funding in the legislature in May, East County is a year away from seeing construction begin on State Road 70 between Bourneside Boulevard and Waterbury Road (C.R. 675).

The project points toward making that stretch of roadway safer by widening the road to four lanes and by adding a series of seven roundabouts.

In January, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new infrastructure initiative called “Moving Florida Forward.” The corridor of S.R. 70 between Bourneside Boulevard and Waterbury Road was among the list of 20 statewide congestion relief projects to be funded by the $4 billion initiative.

“Some of these items (might have taken) 20 years,” DeSantis said in a press release. “I want to accelerate that to get it done much sooner. And the legislature responded.” 

The goal of the four-year plan is to complete these 20 high-priority projects “a decade ahead of schedule.” While the initiative only covers S.R. 70 from Bourneside Boulevard to C.R. 675, the overall project begins at Lorraine Road. 

The finished project will resulted in a four-lane, divided highway with the expectation of reducing crashes and congestion.

According to data collected from 2010 to 2014 by the Florida Department of Transportation Safety Office, “The five-year average crash rate for the S.R. 70 project corridor is significantly higher than the five-year statewide average crash rate for similar facilities within the state.”

Car accidents have caused 26 deaths in Manatee County so far this year. District Five Commissioner Vanessa Baugh has lobbied hard to see improvements along S.R. 70. Baugh is also the chair of the Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council, a statewide transportation planning and policy organization. 

“First of all, (S.R. 70) is a terrible, terrible, dangerous road.” Baugh said. “The last (Lakewood Ranch high school student to die in a car accident), I just lost it and said, ‘I cannot deal with this anymore, we’ve got to do something.’”

Traffic lights were considered first, but Baugh went back to the legislature to rally for roundabouts. The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration identified roundabouts as one of 28 proven safety countermeasures that substantially reduces crashes resulting in serious injury or death.

A study conducted in 2014 found, “Roundabouts constructed at intersections along high-speed, two-lane rural highways reduced overall crashes by up to 68% and reduced injury crashes by up to 88%.”

Baugh said widening the stretch of road to four lanes also will improve safety. She’s been lobbying to have the road widened from Premier Park all the way across the state. 

“In Manatee, we don’t have any great evacuation routes,” Baugh said. “I lived it in the last hurricane that we thought was going to come through. Once people evacuated south of us, I-75 was clogged. We couldn’t go anywhere. We were stuck.”

Construction and Funding

The overall plan for S.R 70 between Lorraine Road and C.R. 675 includes seven roundabouts, but the project is being split into two phases for construction and funding purposes. 

First up is the corridor of S.R. 70 between Bourneside Boulevard and C.R. 675. Planning for the project is currently about 60% complete and is expected to be finished in March of 2024. Construction is anticipated to begin late next year, but can’t start if the $49 million project isn’t fully funded under the Moving Florida Forward bill.

“(DeSantis) wanted $7 billion for the project, but (the legislature) only gave him $4 billion,” Baugh said. “But it’s my understanding that (the S.R. 70) project will get done anyway.”

As of now, there is no date scheduled for the start of construction. 

The four roundabouts to be completed during the first phase are slated for the intersections at Lindrick Lane/197th Street, 213th Street, Panther Ridge Trail/225th Street and Meadow Dove Lane/79th Avenue.

The remainder of the corridor from Lorraine Road to Bourneside Boulevard is currently under procurement. 

“The project is set to be awarded to the winning design-build team on July 5,” FDOT Communications Specialist Tricia Pichette said. “Once the project is executed, the department will be working with the winning team to set a tentative construction schedule and anticipated start date.”

Construction costs for that corridor are estimated at $72 million. Three roundabouts will be installed at the intersections of Uihlein Road, Del Webb Boulevard and Bourneside Boulevard.