As construction crews prepare for a new phase of the road resurfacing project on U.S. 441, those traveling through Paynes Prairie will see a traffic shift early next week.
One lane of northbound traffic is scheduled to be shifted on Monday to the newly rebuilt northbound lanes if weather conditions permit. Traffic has since been directed so that both lanes of travel are on the southbound side of the roadway.
The Florida Department of Transportation expects to move both directions of travel to the newly paved northbound lanes by the end of the month to allow crews to reconstruct the southbound side of U.S. 441.
The state plans to complete the project in spring 2022 and costs a total of approximately $13.9 million.
The 12-mile resurfacing project stretched between Southwest Williston Road (State Road 331) and the Marion County line.
The work reconstruction follows frightening incidents in the past several years in which drivers plunged their vehicles into the prairie swamps. The project also includes the construction of a guardrail through Paynes Prairie along with additional signal and lighting upgrades at County Road 234 in Micanopy.