By Tamas Mondovics
Brandon area motorists who are willing to brave their way by the Brandon Town Center Mall as a part of their daily routine, find no surprise in putting up with the bumper to bumper traffic.
But thanks to a road extension project recently approved, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, or more appropriately, a thruway corridor being built in hopes of ending the congestion.
Earlier this month, Hillsborough County crews began the extension of Gornto Lake Road in Brandon, which consists of the construction of a little less than a mile-long four lane divided roadway with turn lanes, from south of Brandon Boulevard to approximately 800 feet south of Town Center Boulevard.
County officials emphasized that the existing Gornto Lake Rd. contains a mixture of commercial and residential uses and when finished, the new roadway will likely see more than 20,000 vehicles making use of the four-lane extension daily.
For the time being motorists will have to put up with some more delays and more lengthy holdups, according to County officials, the work is a way to put an end to the current traffic woes, many of which are plaguing not only this, but dozens of roadways, as well as many other Brandon area intersections, especially during the holiday season.
“Due to the increase of residential and commercial development into the Brandon area, there was a need for an additional north-south corridor between SR 60 and Lumsden Road,” said Patrick Murray with the County’s Infrastructure and Development Services Team.
The current construction cost of the project is reaching $4 million, contracted by QGS Development Inc, under Bayside Engineering, with an estimated completion date of late 2013.
“The Gornto Lake Road Extension would improve traffic flow in the area as well as help relieve congestion at the interstate access and the mall,” Murray said. “The project is under construction and on schedule with clearing and grubbing and installation of erosion devices underway.”
Of course, to put residents at ease in connection with the additional holiday traffic , Murray emphasized that no road closures or lane closures are scheduled at this time and that no work will be done in the intersection of Gornto Lake Road and Town Center Boulevard until after the Christmas holidays.
For more information about local infrastructure and major county wide improvement projects, please visit www.hillsboroughcounty.org.
