Lane Construction will carry out a US$233 million contract to widen and upgrade a section of the Mainline Turnpike in the US state of Florida. This is the second contract that Lane Construction, part of the Italian Webuild Group, has won in Florida in the last few weeks.
The firm will carry out safety upgrades as well as widening the tolled route along an 11km stretch from the Minneola Interchange to O’Brien Road. Widening the Mainline Turnpike will help reduce congestion problems along the route, which suffers delays for drivers at peak periods at present.
The work will be carried out for the Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise of the Department of Transportation (FDOT). The project forms part of FDOT’s efforts to widen the Mainline Turnpike from Orlando to I-75.
The package of works will be handled by Lane Construction and rebuilding and widening the tolled route so that it features four lanes in either direction, instead of the two lanes in either direction at present. Other work will include new bridge structures, new tolling sites, lighting, intelligent traffic systems, and interchange improvements. Widening work is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2022.
The Turnpike Mainline crosses Florida from Miami in the south of the state to I-75 near Wildwood to the north. A major route for trucks, traffic has increased in recent years, causing congestion and delays.
Once completed, the Turnpike will provide added capacity to meet future traffic demand. The improvements will also aid the turnpike’s role as a critical hurricane evacuation route.
Just a few weeks ago, Lane Construction won a $223-million contract to improve the safety and operational efficiency of the I-275/I-4 highway interchange in downtown Tampa, a city where Lane is also widening the I-275 to improve traffic flow through the Tampa Bay area. In Orlando, the firm is working on an interchange at the intersection of I-4, SR 417 and the nearly completed Wekiva Parkway (SR 429) to close the beltway around the city. The company recently opened the Suncoast Parkway (SR 589), five months early, with a new highway located north of Tampa as part of a regional corridor along the western coast of Florida.
