WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — After weather botched last weekend’s plans for the I-75/State Road 56 interchange conversion, officials with the Florida Department of Transportation are searching for a new date for the big switch.

In the meantime, crews are continuing with smaller pieces of the switchover process that will include overnight ramp detours in order to reduce the amount of time needed to convert to the diverging diamond interchange.

When complete, I-75/State Road 56 will be converted into a diverging diamond, similar to the interchange at I-75/University Parkway in Sarasota that was completed in 2017. 

In this new traffic pattern, cars will cross State Road 56 traffic to the left side of the road through the interchange, and then cross vehicles back over to the right side of the road. This makes it so cars can enter the interstate without having to wait at a left turn signal.

“One of the main benefits is that now that traffic is shifted over to the left, they can enter the interstate freely without having to wait at a left turn signal. The whole goal of this is more capacity and more safety out there,” said Kristen Carson with FDOT.

Pasco County has seen explosive growth over the last decade. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 464,697 people lived in the county in 2010 and that number jumped to 561,891 in 2020. It’s projected to hit 916,000 by 2040.

Residents who drive in this area daily say they’re ready to see a safer roadway, and finally have construction come to an end.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said motorcyclist Dan Monce. “It alleviates some of the distraction of drivers trying to see what’s going on and if the expansion can actually fix some of the issues, it’s going to be a good thing.”

After the traffic pattern is changed to the diverging diamond structure, State Road 56 will remain two lanes until the project is completed this summer.