Most of the orange barrels Lakewood Ranch drivers have worked around since late summer should be gone by the end of November. Every current closure is tied to a project that's already funded and underway, so each one has an expected reopening window. Two other county priority corridors, Lorraine Road and Lena Road, have no full construction schedule because the money for construction hasn't been budgeted. The closures are the short-term problem this fall. The funding gap will last much longer.
Here's the fall calendar, sorted by when each closure is expected to lift.
| Location | What's closed or changed | Expected to end |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters Avenue at Bourneside Boulevard | Full closure at the intersection, detour via Bourneside Boulevard North | Through October |
| SR 64 at Uihlein Road | Developer crews building a roundabout and adding lanes | End of October 2026 |
| Polo Trail at SR 70 | Full closure starting Monday, Oct. 5, no vehicles permitted | Early November, weather permitting |
| 197th Street at SR 70 | Closed starting Sept. 30 except to emergency vehicles and school buses | Mid-November, weather permitting |
| SR 64 at Upper Manatee River Road/Lakewood Ranch Boulevard | Eastbound dual left-turn lanes closed for county water-main work | Late November |
| SR 70, Lorraine Road to Bourneside Boulevard | Widening under construction | Summer 2027 |
| University Parkway, Lorraine Road to Bourneside Boulevard | Widening under construction | Summer 2027 |
The closures that should clear by Thanksgiving
The Masters Avenue closure is already past the halfway mark. Manatee County announced on Aug. 26 that the east half of the new roundabout at Bourneside Boulevard was complete, curb work and final road surface included. Crews then moved to the west half, which requires a full closure of The Masters Avenue at the intersection. The county hasn't set a reopening day and says only that the closure runs through October. Until then, anyone who uses The Masters Avenue to reach Bourneside or the neighborhoods to the north has to follow the Bourneside Boulevard North detour.
On SR 64, two projects overlap on the corridor into Lakewood Ranch from Interstate 75. At Uihlein Road, developer crews are building a roundabout and adding lanes through the end of October 2026. Farther west at Upper Manatee River Road and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, Manatee County started a water-main project on Aug. 3 and expects to finish in late November. Until then, the eastbound dual left turns from SR 64 onto Upper Manatee River Road stay closed.
Both SR 70 closures are side-street closures tied to the state's widening work, and both are timed to end in November. Polo Trail at SR 70 closes Monday, Oct. 5 for about 30 days while crews build Polo Trail and the future westbound lanes at its entrance. No vehicles will be allowed on it during that window, and it's expected to reopen in early November, weather permitting. East of Bourneside, 197th Street closed at SR 70 on Sept. 30 for about 45 days so crews can build the north side of the 197th Street roundabout. Only emergency vehicles and school buses can enter or exit 197th Street from SR 70 during that time. Everyone else follows a posted detour until the expected mid-November reopening.
All of these dates depend on the weather. The Florida Department of Transportation's RoadWatch page is updated live, so it's worth checking again the week a closure is due to lift.
What the finished work adds by year-end
Two of these fall projects leave something new behind. The Sept. 22 Observer update reported that last year, while building the 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Plan, Manatee County staff listed five District 5 road projects as priorities. Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the parent company of Lakewood Ranch, partnered with the county to build three of them:
- The roundabout at The Masters Avenue and Bourneside Boulevard
- The roundabout where University Parkway meets Legacy Boulevard and Deer Drive
- A multiuse trail on Bourneside Boulevard from State Road 64 to State Road 70
According to the Sept. 22 Observer update, the University Parkway roundabout is the only one of the three that won't be done by the end of the year. Its construction starts in spring 2027.
Part of the Bourneside path already exists. Schroeder-Manatee Ranch has built a path on Bourneside Boulevard from State Road 64 to University Parkway. Reporting on how far the remaining trail runs and where it connects hasn't been consistent, so the best guide to the finished route will be the ribbon-cutting, not an early map.
The partnership also affects how these projects are paid for. In 2025, the Masters Avenue roundabout was estimated at $3.45 million. Schroeder-Manatee Ranch designs and builds it, and the county repays the company through impact-fee credits rather than a direct payment. That arrangement is a big part of why these three projects have firm dates.
The University Parkway roundabout next spring is aimed at a specific problem. It's meant to handle left-turn volume at Legacy Boulevard and Deer Drive, especially turns from Lakewood Ranch Country Club and The Out-of-Door Academy. Schroeder-Manatee Ranch's CEO has said more turn lanes and new signal timing wouldn't keep up with that volume.
The two projects that run into 2027
The SR 70 and University Parkway widenings have the longest timelines because they're the largest jobs. On SR 70 between Lorraine Road and Bourneside Boulevard, FDOT is turning a two-lane undivided road into a four- or six-lane divided road, depending on the section. The project adds roundabouts at Uihlein Road, Del Webb Boulevard, and Bourneside Boulevard, and four bridges at two Braden River crossings. It also includes 10-foot shared-use paths, street lighting, landscaping, and fiber-optic cable linking the signals to Manatee County's traffic management system. The estimated completion date is summer 2027.
This week's SR 70 work list shows the stage the project is in: pond excavation west of Uihlein Road, approach slabs for the easternmost westbound bridge, waterline work between Lorraine Road and Post Boulevard, and base material for the future westbound lanes between Uihlein Road and Garnet Trail. FDOT has also warned that people on bikes and on foot have been using shared-use paths inside the work zone. Those paths may look finished, but they're closed and can have open excavations, fresh asphalt, or uncured concrete.
The University Parkway widening between Lorraine Road and Bourneside Boulevard is a separate Manatee County project. It started July 20 and is expected to run through summer 2027, adding lanes and intersection improvements. Because it runs alongside the Masters Avenue work, the eastern parts of Lakewood Ranch that depend on Bourneside Boulevard as a main north-south route are seeing several traffic changes at the same time.
Lorraine Road and Lena Road are still waiting on construction funding
According to the Sept. 22 Observer update, the other two District 5 priority projects are Lena Road from SR 64 to SR 70 and Lorraine Road from SR 64 to 59th Avenue East. Neither has full construction funding, so neither has a major construction schedule. A traffic signal going in on Lorraine Road is the one visible piece of work.
On Lorraine Road, the county's priority has moved from the SR 64 end to the stretch north of SR 70. Traffic counts between SR 70 and Rangeland Parkway show the road isn't over capacity. Clark Davis, interim director of Public Works, says the issue is how the road works: frequent turns in and out of driveways and no traffic signal at 59th Avenue East.
"It was farms and rural businesses at one point, and now it's neighborhoods, so it's not the right kind of two-lane road. It's not so much about capacity as it is about having the right road for the right place." Clark Davis, interim director of Public Works, Manatee County, as quoted by The Observer
A deadline is coming. Rangeland High School opens for the 2027-28 school year, and its traffic study projects about 1,275 cars for morning drop-off. The school will have three access points: 59th Avenue East, Rangeland Parkway, and Premier Sports Boulevard, formerly Post Boulevard. Before it opens, the Lorraine Road and 59th Avenue East intersection will get a traffic signal with protected left turns. The full Lorraine Road project from SR 70 to SR 64 is estimated at $85.2 million. So far, $11 million has been budgeted, all of it for design and land acquisition, and nothing else is budgeted for the next five years.
Lena Road is further along. It's a $32 million project, and it has become a busier route since August 2025, when the roundabout at 44th Avenue East opened and linked SR 64 to SR 70. Without full funding, the county is focusing on a few key spots, starting with the intersection at the Lena Road Landfill. That roundabout's design should be finished early next year, but construction isn't funded.
At Lena Road's SR 64 end, Davis said the county would look at improvements near the RaceTrac and Coastal Orthopedics driveways if more money comes through. County commissioners approved plans for a freestanding emergency room on that same southwest corner on Sept. 3. Davis said the Lena Road project could be finished by 2030 once it's funded.
That's where Lakewood Ranch's road picture stands this fall. The Masters Avenue, Polo Trail and 197th Street closures, along with work at both SR 64 intersections, are expected to end between October and late November. Lorraine Road will get one new signal before fall 2027, and the rest of its $85.2 million project has no construction money budgeted through the next five years.
If you're planning a listing, a closing, or a move-in date around one of these projects, or you want to know how a road change near your village could affect daily routines and resale, Kevin at Ranch Realty follows these projects closely and can talk through the timing with you. Let's Connect.
