Roadwork in the village of Cortez is going to linger for awhile longer than expected.
The project on Cortez Road is now projected to continue for another seven months.
Florida Department of Transportation communications specialist Brian Rick wrote in a May 20 email to The Islander that Ajax Paving Industries of Florida should finish the project by the end of the year.
The DOT originally projected construction would end this summer, but then said “late fall.”
The $5,000,000 road project involves realigning the intersection of Cortez Road and 119th Street West, improving stormwater drainage and adding lighting along the corridor.
Rick said the project was delayed a month at the beginning due to public concern over a proposed detour from 119th Street West to Harbour Landings Drive, then 126th and 127th streets west to Cortez Road.
During the downtime, DOT created a new plan that included delaying work on the north side of Cortez Road at 119th Street West. The new plan also increased the number of construction phases from two to six, in turn increasing the contract time.
“We added approximately four-six months of time to accommodate the new plans/work,” Rick said.
In May, Ajax was excavating the south side of the roadway west of 119th Street West to install two drainage pipes.
After Ajax installs the pipelines, the contractor will resurface the roadway and construct a new sidewalk.
On the east side of the intersection, as of May 21, Ajax finished installing drainage pipes and was resurfacing the roadway and sidewalk.
Rick said the contractor also was creating a new section for the end of 119th Street West to the east of where the current street intersects with Cortez Road.
When that section is finished, the contractor will close and remove the old road.
When Ajax finishes the south side of Cortez Road, crews will shift to the north side to finish realigning the intersection at 119th Street West.
“We are still quite some time out from that happening,” Rick said.
“At the end of the day, residents and visitors will have a considerably safer travel route,” he added.