NORTH PORT, Fla. — North Port plans to close a chunk of Price Boulevard on Monday as the city works to complete an $80 million road widening project.
North Port will close the road between Main Street and Salford Boulevard for around two months, according to Sandra Boudreau, the senior project engineer. The city said it will detour Traffic down Salford and Sumter Boulevard to U.S. 41.
WATCH: FOX 4's Hunter Walterman gets reaction from people who use Price Boulevard daily:
Price Boulevard is one of North Port's busiest roads, with average daily traffic of 15,000, Boudreau said. The shutdown wasn't part of the original plan. B
Engineers determined that keeping the road open would create flooding risks for neighborhoods upstream of the Blueridge waterway, Boudreau said.
"Flooding was a concern, especially since we are still in the hurricane season," Boudreau said.
The closure is to replace a box culvert - it's a drainage system that lets water flow underneath the road.
People who live on Price will still have access to their homes. They can travel east on Price. But drivers passing through will need to take a different route.
The closure drew mixed reactions from Price Boulevard residents. Some expressed frustration with the project as a whole, calling it a major disruption. Others said the temporary closure isn't a major inconvenience.
Christopher Tutsch said he regularly bikes along Price. The closure is a small sacrifice for the project, Tutsch said, which is needed to keep up with a growing city. Once complete, Price Boulevard will double to four lanes, Boudreau said, with a turn lane in the middle.
"It's going to be a little bit of a headache to do it, but when it's done we're all going to be happy," Tutsch said.
Teenagers Seth Baldwin and Brody Martin said they bike down Price Boulevard daily. They bike to visit friends, go to school, and get food.
"It's going to be a longer ride of where we want to go, but it's happening so we just gotta do it," Martin said.
"We know this place like the back of our hands," Baldwin said.
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