Lakeland’s South Florida Avenue redesign could take 3.5 years

Drivers have navigated concrete barriers along South Florida Avenue in Lakeland for six years. Now, the city has a new timeline for making the controversial road diet permanent.Construction on the $26.3 million project could begin in mid-2027 and take about three and a half years to complete, according to the city.The project will rebuild about a mile of South Florida Avenue through the Dixieland neighborhood, replacing roadway, drainage and utility infrastructure while maintaining traffic flow through the busy corridor. Why will construction take so long?The South Florida Avenue road diet was introduced in 2020 to address safety concerns along what was considered a high-crash corridor. The pilot project reduced the roadway from five lanes to three, leaving temporary concrete barriers in place as the city developed plans for a permanent redesign.Lakeland Transportation Planner Chuck Barmby said the project involves much more than repaving the road.Theres also over 1,200 utility conflic