The Florida Department of Transportation is developing construction plans to add lanes and reconstruct a 2.4 mile segment of the S.R. 574 (or Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) in Hillsborough County.
Transportation leaders in Hillsborough County will be discussing the plans on May 23rd.
There are plans to widen the road from a two-lane, undivided road to a four-lane divided road with raised median, according to an FDOT project description.
Other improvements include bike lanes on both sides of the roadway and replacement of a low level bridge.
There are also planned improvements at the intersections on MLK, at Valrico and McIntosh. Two people died in a crash on July 2012 at MLK and McIntosh.
A Plant City man riding a motorcycle and his passenger died after being killed by a truck. Troopers say the motorcyclist ran the red light and crashed into the truck at the intersection of MLK and McIntosh.
There was also another deadly crash in April 2012 at MLK and Seffner, which is also inside the improvement area.
In the last six years or so, there have been 128 injury crashes, 127 property crashes and two deadly crashes, killing a total of three people.
People like Angelika Ferrone, who owns a local dog grooming salon near MLK and Kingsway, said these improvements will really help.
FDOT has already upgraded the intersection at Kingsway and MLK. Workers added two lanes, a special turn lane and a raised median.
“I don’t have to think, can I make it, can I not make it?" Ferrone said. "I wait until the light is green and I can turn in peace.”
She's excited to see improvements head even more east toward McIntosh. She said many people use the road as a way to get from Plant City to Tampa.
The price tag for construction is around $21.7 million and construction is set to start in Winter 2021, FDOT plans say.
