Every day, 6,000 cars cross the CSX tracks on Tallevast Road between U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 in Sarasota.

Starting Monday, those drivers will need to find a new route, as Manatee County is closing the road for much-needed improvements to the crossing.

"It is a full replacement of everything that's there," Deputy Public Works Director Chad Butzow said.

What started as a need for a new sidewalk is now a full scale project.

"So at the same time, we asked permission for the railroad to make the improvement for the area where pedestrians could cross the railroad," Butzow said." They proposed a deal for us where we'd rehab the entire crossing, which is in need of rehab, and at the same time, make the crossing wider for sidewalks to cross safely."

The detour will take drivers either north or south to Whitfield Avenue or University Parkway, which is about four miles longer than the straight-through route on Tallevast Road.

According to resident Geraldine Bryant, that's going to triple the amount of time it takes some drivers to get to work each day.

"A lot of people that work on the other side of 301," she said. "They've got to go all the way around, like I said. Then they've got to get up, maybe 30 minutes earlier to to to work."

Message signs are out to alert drivers to the change. The closure begins Monday, Nov. 30 and is scheduled to continue for seven days.