Cranes, construction and crews continue to line the 826/836 interchange as the road project gets closer to its fall 2015 completion, but project officials say drivers will need lots of patience until then.
"Drivers, since we're in the home stretch now drivers should be expecting traffic shifts, traffic pattern changes, a little more often on 826 and 836," said Oscar Gonzalez, project spokesperson.
Major traffic changes to be mindful of this weekend include the closure of the southbound State Road 826 ramp heading east onto State Road 836 from Friday night to Sunday morning (for a full list of closures, scroll down).
A portion of the Palmetto Expressway southbound will also shut down on Saturday night.
"That's to allow us to remove some of the existing bridges so we can continue construction with some of new bridges, in all we're building 45 bridges," Gonzalez said.
Upon completion of the reconstruction project, for the first time drivers heading northbound on the Palmetto Expressway will have direct access to westbound SR 836. One section of that new ramp was just installed last week.
"These are high capacity direct connections between SR 826 and SR 836. That will allow them to transition from state road to state road a lot better."
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According to the project spokesperson, the reconstruction of the Dolphin and Palmetto Expressways is on schedule. Also part of the plan: traffic cameras, sensors, and electronic message boards.
"We can alert motorists to any incidents before they make a commitment to getting on the expressways."
The next milestone for the project is the reopening of Milam Dairy Road within the next two months.
For more information on upcoming lane closures click here.
826/836 Road Closures This Weekend
On Friday the southbound SR 826 ramps to eastbound and westbound SR 836 will be closed. The southbound SR 826 ramp to eastbound SR 836 will be continuously closed from 10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday. The SR 826 ramp to westbound SR 836 will be closed from 10:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
Southbound drivers on SR 826 going to eastbound SR 836 can:
- Continue south on SR 826, exit at West Flagler Street
- East to access the northbound SR 826
- Enter the eastbound SR 836 ramp
Southbound drivers on SR 826 going to westbound SR 836 can:
- Continue south on SR 826, exit at West Flagler Street
- West to NW 87 Avenue, go north
- Enter the westbound SR 836 ramp
On Saturday, June 28 all southbound lanes on SR 826 will be closed from north of NW 25 Street to south of SR 836 from 11 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday. One lane will be closed at 9 p.m. and two lanes will be closed at 10 p.m. The ramp from NW 25 Street to southbound SR 826 will also be closed at this time.
Southbound drivers on SR 826 can:
- Exit at NW 25 Street
- West to NW 87 Avenue, go south
- Enter the eastbound SR 836 ramp lanes to access the southbound SR 826 ramp
Southbound drivers on SR 826 going to eastbound SR 836 can:
- Exit at NW 25 Street
- West to NW 87 Avenue, go south
- Enter the eastbound SR 836 ramp
Southbound drivers on SR 826 going to westbound SR 836 can:
- Exit at NW 25 Street
- West to NW 87 Avenue, go south
- Enter the westbound SR 836 ramp
Eastbound drivers on NW 25 Street going south on SR 826 can:
- Continue east on NW 25 Street, south on Milam Dairy Road
- East on NW 12 Street, south on NW 72 Avenue to West Flagler Street
- West on West Flagler Street to access the SR 826 south ramp
Westbound drivers on NW 25 Street going south on SR 826 can:
- Continue west on NW 25 Street to NW 87 Avenue, go south
- Enter the eastbound SR 836 ramp lanes to access the southbound SR 826 ramp
