City of North Port celebrates groundbreaking for Price Boulevard Widening Project

CITY OF NORTH PORT, FL – The City of North Port celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony Friday to kick off the widening of Price Boulevard, a much-anticipated project that will ease congestion on this key roadway and make it more resilient in the event of future storms.

Friday’s festivities also included a guided bus tour for officials and guests along the project area, which spans 2.75 miles of Price Boulevard between Sumter and Toledo Blade boulevards. The road will be expanded from two travel lanes to four, with a continuous bi-directional center left lane and 10-foot-wide multi-use paths on each side of the roadway, expanding capacity and enhancing connectivity and mobility.

“This is a project that’s been talked about in North Port for many, many years,” said Public Works Director Chuck Speake. “I’m excited and honored to say that today, it’s not just talk anymore, and we’re ready to put shovels in the ground and get started.”

The project will begin this spring with utilities work that will place water and sewer mains underground and harden the four waterway crossings along Price Boulevard. Several of these crossings suffered severe damage from the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Ian last fall, leaving portions of the road shut down for several weeks.

The City incorporated lessons learned from Ian into a redesign of some elements of the project to fortify the road for future storm events and improve resiliency. The size of the utilities pipes was also increased to accommodate future needs for North Port, the second fastest-growing city in the country.

“This is a major east-west connector, probably our most important after I-75 and U.S. 41. So many of us rely on Price to get to work, school or our local businesses every day,” said City Manager Jerome Fletcher. “The City is working to accommodate future growth while also making life better for our current residents, and this project is a great example.”

Road work is anticipated to begin this summer, and a 30-month construction duration is anticipated. Two-way traffic will be maintained throughout construction.

The $80 million project is to be funded by bonds payable from one-cent sales tax proceeds. City voters approved a bond referendum last November that allowed the project to move forward.

For more information on the Price Boulevard widening, citizens can call the dedicated voicemail box for the project at 941-240-6960, email [email protected], or visit NorthPortFL.gov/Price and sign up to receive the latest updates via email.