The Florida Department of Transportation is considering plans to widen U.S. 301 to four lanes south of Wildwood, bypass Coleman and install two roundabouts on the highway.
Plans also include reconfiguration of the highway’s intersection with the Florida Turnpike, with installation of traffic signals and alterations in traffic flow.
Turn lane improvements are planned for the section between the turnpike and State Road 44 in Wildwood. A buffered bicycle lane and sidewalk on opposite sides of the highway also are planned for this section.
Sumter County Administrator Bradley Arnold presented an FDOT update on the plan Tuesday night to the Board of Commissioners. Arnold said a study, which began in 2014, is scheduled for completion next year, with project design slated for 2021.
Formal public comments will be taken this December. Funding has been allocated for the design phase, but not for right-of-way acquisition and construction.
“It is important that this is a fully federally funded project,” Arnold said.
The project’s purpose is to address traffic growth and congestion, accommodate a high volume of truck traffic and support economic and social opportunities, according to the report.
Three alternatives are presented in the study. They are:
- No change;
- Widening the highway to four lanes, including through Coleman; and
- Both widening and realigning U.S. 301 to bypass Coleman.
Widening with the bypass is the recommended alternative. Roundabouts would be placed on the Coleman bypass at U.S. 301 and Warm Springs Avenue (County Road 468) near the Village of Fenney and at the highway’s intersection with County Road 525 east of Coleman.
The preliminary cost of widening and realigning the highway is expected to be $112 million, including $69.4 million for construction, $27.5 million for right-of-way acquisition, $8.1 million for engineering and $7.2 million for design. Mitigation for several ponds along the route would cost $320,000.
Widening would require acquisition of 140 parcels on 95.8 acres. The bypass would require acquisition of 107 parcels on 118.5 acres. Four potential relocations are expected for the bypass and 20 for widening the highway, according to the report.
