'It will double the road's capacity': Work begins on widening US 98 north of Lakeland

The first visible signs of construction have recently appeared on U.S. 98 in North Lakeland, almost perfectly in time with the return of warmer weather.

Heavy clearing of trees and brush along U.S. 98 signals the earliest physical preparations needed to transform the two-lane segment, running from West Socrum Loop Road north to County Road 54, into four lanes.

John McShaffrey, overseeing the Florida Department of Transportation's community outreach on the project, said the state's contractor is not quite finished with the roadway's final design but has started pre-construction work removing trees, brush and ground cover as necessary. It's a lot of ground to cover, given the highway will roughly double in size.

"It's a design-build project," he said. "It's a way to get projects built, to get to construction a little quicker rather than having us [FDOT] do the full design. It saves a bit of time."

The state contractor, listed as Prince-Ajaz U.S. 98 Contractors, will move on to what's called "muck removal" or taking away any soil that's not suitable to serve as a base for a roadway. It will then be refilled to provide a more solid base.

While this is going on, utility companies are being called in to relocate any lines along the corridor outside the area that will be covered by future roadway.

"Going from two lanes to four lanes, it will double the road's capacity," McShaffrey said.

The FDOT's plans will transform U.S. 98 from a two-lane undivided highway to a four-lane divided highway with a central median running the roughly 9-mile stretch from West Socrum Loop Road/Hall Road to the Pasco County Line. The roadway will also be widened as it crosses into Pasco, under the same contractor.

McShaffrey said the design calls for two, two-lane roundabouts to be built at Big Cypress Boulevard and State Road 471 because of its heavy use as a truck route.

"The number of roundabouts is increasing all over the state, all over the country," he said. "It's a better way to move traffic, and it's safer." In roundabouts, traffic engineers say crashes tend to be less severe for motorists and pedestrians than signalized traffic lights. McShaffrey said collisions in roundabouts tend to be glancing, "fender benders" compared with 90-degree, high-impact collisions seen at traffic signals.

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The FDOT has provided budgeting to construct a shared-use path, usually a 10- to 12-foot wide path for use by bicyclists and pedestrians, on both sides of the roadway running from West Socrum Loop Road to Rock Ridge Road.

"More and more people are wanting to use the corridor for transportation, other than vehicular," McShaffrey said. "A lot of these paths will ultimately connect to other paths. Shared-use paths are about reserving space for others."

Pedestrian crossings will be built at Rock Ridge Road and Big Cypress Boulevard to allow bicyclists and walkers to have an easier time crossing the expanded four lanes of traffic.

Other improvements will including drainage systems where necessary and several wildlife crossings to encourage animals to cross underneath the highway in more rural areas.

For driver and worker safety, U.S. 98's speed limit has been reduced to 45 mph in the area of construction, McShaffrey said, and is expected to remain at 45 mph until the project's expected completion in 2028.

Most of the construction work is anticipated to be done by contractors during daylight hours, McShaffrey said. By late this year or early 2025, motorists should be prepared for all lanes to shift west, using some existing pavement and some temporary pavement, to allow crews to build the eastern lanes.

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There will be periodic lane closures, reducing U.S. 98 to one lane a times, McShaffrey said. It's necessary, and will involve two flaggers standing at either end of the construction zone indicating to drivers when to stop, and when vehicles may proceed slowly in a single file. Those who frequently drive through the area are encouraged to sign up for FDOT's project notifications by going to www.fdottampabay.com/project/1029. There is a bright teal button below the map, where users can sign up using an email, without having to provide a name to get status updates.

McShaffrey said each FDOT project has its own email list, so users will receive about one email a week, occasionally more to provide the latest information on upcoming lane shifts or closures and updates on any major progress.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Work begins on widening US 98 north of Lakeland from 2 lanes to 4