{"id":62534,"date":"2026-02-13T18:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=62534"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T23:44:47","slug":"lakelands-road-diet-moves-forward-construction-is-expected-to-begin-in-spring-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/02\/13\/lakelands-road-diet-moves-forward-construction-is-expected-to-begin-in-spring-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland\u2019s Road Diet Moves Forward &#8211; Construction is expected to begin in spring 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lakelandgov.net\/departments\/communications\/road-diet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">South Florida Avenue road diet<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;has reached a major milestone: the project is now 60% through the design phase. Construction expected to begin in&nbsp;<strong>spring 2027<\/strong>.<br><br>For the first time, the design includes a&nbsp;<strong>mid-block pedestrian crossing<\/strong>&nbsp;between Belmar Street and Park Street, near&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornandbreadbakehouse.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Born &amp; Bread Bakehouse<\/a>. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has approved the crossing to help pedestrians navigate one of the busiest sections of State Road 37, according to Civil Engineering Manager Ryan Lazenby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To drivers, South Florida Avenue may seem frozen in time \u2014 with the same concrete&nbsp;barriers that&nbsp;<strong>went up in 2020<\/strong>. For the past six years, motorists have experienced the inconvenience of the road diet without yet seeing benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"7a786e\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #7a786e;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"588\" height=\"307\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-13T183616.054.webp?resize=588%2C307&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62535 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-13T183616.054.webp?w=588&amp;ssl=1 588w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-13T183616.054.webp?resize=300%2C157&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new renderings, created with the assistance of drones, show wide sidewalks with\u00a0<strong>brick ribbons, historic-style streetlights, and shade trees<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014 features officials hope will make the Dixieland area feel like an extension of downtown.<br><br>\u201cWe also have in the design a couple of little strategic places \u2026 where we have reserved space for some public art, if the city should desire to do that,\u201d Lazenby said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A proposed mid-block crossing near Born &amp; Bread Bakehouse, between Belmar and Park streets.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A rendering of South Florida Avenue, looking south from Lime Street.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A rendering of South Florida Avenue, looking north at Frank Lloyd Wright Way.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A rendering of South Florida Avenue, looking north at Walnut Street.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A rendering of South Florida Avenue, looking north at Hillcrest Street.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The road realignment gives South Florida Avenue three 11-foot travel lanes, instead of five 8.5-foot ones.\u00a0|\u00a0City of Lakeland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commissioner Mike Musick asked how traffic will be handled once construction starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lazenby said the work will have to be phased \u201c<strong>one lane at a time<\/strong>,\u201d and left turns will likely be limited in certain areas to keep vehicles moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means rush-hour backups and delays could worsen \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 as the corridor transitions from its current configuration to its permanent design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lazenby told city commissioners that a great deal has been happening behind the scenes, including pavement engineering, right-of-way acquisition, and multiple rounds of FDOT review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Lazenby, if the current timeline holds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Design will be\u00a0<strong>90% complete<\/strong>\u00a0by July 20, 2026.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It will be\u00a0<strong>100% complete<\/strong>\u00a0by Dec. 31, 2026.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The project will be ready to go out to bid in February 2027, with\u00a0<strong>construction beginning soon after<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said crews have placed paint markings in the corridor and drilled more than 100 test holes to locate underground utilities, ahead of eventual construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lazenby noted that the road realignment was driven primarily by safety concerns. South Florida Avenue was considered a \u201c<strong>high-crash corridor<\/strong>\u201d with 8\u00bd-foot lanes instead of the standard 11-foot lanes and sidewalks that were non-ADA-compliant and placed pedestrians too close to cars.<br><br>The city is contributing about&nbsp;<strong>$5 million<\/strong>&nbsp;for \u201cextras\u201d such as upgraded sidewalks and landscaping that aren\u2019t typical of an FDOT road project. The state\u2019s share of construction is&nbsp;<strong>$22.6 million.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In all, FDOT has set aside&nbsp;<strong>$27.6 million<\/strong>&nbsp;for the project in its fiscal 2027 work program, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Project-Update-Feb.-13-2026-\u2014-S.-Florida-Avenue.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Project-Update-Feb.-13-2026-\u2014-S.-Florida-Avenue<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Florida Avenue road diet&nbsp;has reached a major milestone: the project is now 60% through the design phase. Construction expected to begin in&nbsp;spring 2027. For the first time, the design&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDJcLzIwMjYtMDItMTNUMTgzNjE2LjA1NC53ZWJwP2ZpdD01ODglMkMzMDcmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYWtlbGFuZFx1MjAxOXMgUm9hZCBEaWV0IE1vdmVzIEZvcndhcmQgJiM4MjExOyBDb25zdHJ1Y3Rpb24gaXMgZXhwZWN0ZWQgdG8gYmVnaW4gaW4gc3ByaW5nIDIwMjciLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.bIRXAyndPmZbF-rzO4bePj_izwqiANnVzn1XgvsbPEEMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":62535,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-02-13T183616.054.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[13628],"class_list":["post-62534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakelands-road-diet-moves-forward-construction-is-expected-to-begin-in-spring-2027"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62534"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62538,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62534\/revisions\/62538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}