Construction on $1.2 million in improvements to congested St. Lucie West Boulevard intersections remains on track to start in October and be completed early next year.
It’s the first project the city is undertaking with money from a half-percent sales tax hike voters approved Nov. 6. The tax will generate $82 million during the next 10 years for road, sidewalk and drainage construction.
“We’re committed to complete the sales tax projects on time and on budget, and so far we are on target,” Assistant City Manager Patricia Roebling told the Port St. Lucie City Council last week.
The city received bids last week on the project to add turn lanes and/or through lanes at St. Lucie West Boulevard’s intersections with Peacock, Cashmere and Bayshore boulevards, Roebling said.
The council will be asked to award the contract during a meeting in late August, Roebling said July 24 during the city’s annual budget retreat.
Public works officials estimated the project would cost $1.2 million, city records show. That includes $500,000 for Cashmere, $400,000 for Bayshore and $300,000 for Peacock.
The Peacock Boulevard construction is slated for completion in January and the work on Cashmere and Bayshore boulevards is expected to be finished in March, Roebling said.
St. Lucie West residents have long complained about traffic jams on the community’s namesake thoroughfare during morning and evening rush hours.
Approximately 35,500 vehicles per day travel on St. Lucie West Boulevard between Interstate 95 and Cashmere Boulevard, St. Lucie County traffic records show.
The design for the Torino Loop sidewalk in the neighborhood immediately north of St. Lucie West is due in August, Roebling said. Port St. Lucie plans to spend $1.8 million constructing sidewalks along Torino Parkway in the next two years, city records show. The work is expected to be completed in 2020.
The city also plans to spend $2 million in the next two years constructing traffic circles at Torino Boulevard’s intersections with California and Cashmere boulevards, city records show.
Construction is to start by the end of the year and be completed in the summer, city records show.
In addition, Florida Department of Transportation plans to spend $17.8 million modernizing the I-95 interchange at St. Lucie West Boulevard, records show. The project is to start in fall 2021 and take two years.
Once that work is done, no other major road or sidewalk projects are planned in St. Lucie West until the summer of 2026, city records show.
That’s when the city anticipates undertaking $2 million worth of improvements to the intersection of St. Lucie West and California boulevards, city records show.
Construction on the $10 million expansion of California Boulevard to four lanes is also expected to start in the summer 2026, city records show.
Both California Boulevard projects are slated for completion by the end of 2027, city records show.
