A key link in Manatee County's road project of the decade opens this week (Cortez: 2013)

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A key link in what some have called Manatee County's road construction project of the decade — the 44th Avenue East extension — is set to open soon.

Manatee County Public Works plans a ribbon cutting at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug. 7, for the official opening of the extension bridge over the Braden River.

The roadway is designed to handle 36,000 vehicles per day and to reduce the demand on heavily congested State Road 64 and State Road 70 by a combined 21,000 vehicles a day.

The first phase of construction of the extension, which will eventually link Cortez Road in the west with Lakewood Ranch in the east, started in 2013.

Even after the Braden River bridge opens, work will remain to complete the four-lane expansion of 44th Avenue East from the bridge to Morgan Johnson Road and Creekwood.

The 44th Avenue East extension from 45th Street East to just west of Interstate 75 is estimated to cost $67.8 million.

Contractor Woodruff & Sons, Inc. started work on this phase in May 2020.

This week, 44th Avenue East was closed to through traffic at 45th Street East.

44th Avenue extension continues

The most difficult and complex portion of the 44th Avenue Extension, bridging Interstate 75 and connecting the east and west sides of the road, is yet to come.

By spring of 2024, road crews should be at work on the project to span I-75, said Ogden Clark, strategic affairs manager for Manatee County Public Works.

The final segment of the 44th Avenue East extension project will include approximately 1.61 miles of new roadway over I-75 to the existing intersection of 44th Avenue East and Solutions Lane on the east side of I-75, the project website says.

The project has been expanded to include a roundabout at the intersection of 44th Avenue East and Lena Road.

Lena Road will also be extended approximately one-quarter of a mile south of the roundabout to connect the 44th Avenue East roundabout with the existing segment of Lena Road towards S.R. 70.

The design consultant is currently coordinating permits with multiple agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for bald eagles in the area, Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

The project is complicated by a 90-acre lake for cleaned and treated wastewater and a wetland mitigation area, part of the county's wastewater treatment system, on the east side of I-75.

Land acquisition for the stormwater management facilities and Lena Road connection is underway.

A cost estimate for the remaining portion of the road extension has not been announced.

For more information, including project updates, visit https://44thaveeast.com/project-info/.