North Port’s Price Boulevard widening project set to begin in April

NORTH PORT, Fla. (WWSB) - The North Port City Commission approved the construction contract for the Price Boulevard widening project Tuesday evening.

According to the city, the much-anticipated project will start in April and cost $80 million.

“This project has been talked about for a decade or more and it finally came to fruition now,” said Madison Ingalls, public information manager for the City of North Port. “In 2022 it was approved by voter referendum for some bond money and that’s when it really started to become real, even back then.”

The city said the agreement for the project was reached with Watson Civil Construction. According to the city, the work covers a 2.75-mile stretch from east of Sumter Boulevard to west of Toledo Blade Boulevard.

The city said the roadway will be expanded from two to five lanes which includes a continuous center turn lane. Multi-use paths will also be added to either side of the road, a new drainage and utilities systems, and signalized intersections will be installed.

“It’s going to probably not be fun for some part of this,” said Ingalls. “We’re going to be keeping the road open the whole time, maybe down to one lane as the construction is going on, but there will never be, unless there’s some other circumstance, a full road closure.”

Ingalls said crews will be working from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.

“It’s not going to be around the clock, it’s not going to be keeping you awake,” said Ingalls. “It will be a little bit of a pain but in the end its really going to alleviate all the traffic that people have been dealing with here.”

According to the city, the referendum approved by voters in 2022 borrowed up to $80 million in bonds payable with Sarasota County’s penny sales tax refunds to widen the road. While the referendum authorized borrowing up to $80 million, the city secured bonds at $53.8 million to align with available surtax revenues required for repayment.

The city said this approach ensured they obtained an excellent interest rate while maintaining its strong bond rating.

Ingalls said after the hurricanes, the city knew the project had to be done.

“After Hurricane Ian hit, that really showed that we had to get the ball rolling,” said Ingalls. “There were some major road issues, I’m sure the people of the town remember, some bridges collapsing, things like that.”

Mike Hughes lives off Sumter Boulevard and said he avoids Price Boulevard at all costs.

“At any of the rush-hour times, any school times, I mean I can say there’s lines of school buses. Any garbage pickup days, there’s garbage trucks out there and they’re just doing their jobs, and I understand that, but people are in line waiting and a stopping school bus every couple of minutes or stopping garbage truck, I mean it’s stop and go,” he said.

“The building here is out of control as far as I’m concerned,” said Hughes. “I feel for the people that are on Price Boulevard themselves. They’ve had a heck of a time for years out there.”

Hughes said he used to work in construction and imagines this project will take at least three years to be completed.

Ingalls said the city is committed to keeping residents updated throughout the process. More information can be found on their website.

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