North Florida Roads

Work is expected to begin this week on a $5.5 million project to resurface and improve U.S. 90 in Baker County, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

The U.S. 90 improvement project stretches 13 miles between Sanderson and the Baker/Nassau County line.

In addition to milling, or removing the top three inches of asphalt, and resurfacing the travel and turn lanes, eight curves along the roadway will have additional asphalt applied to improve traction.

Other improvements include:

Adding three feet of pavement on each side to provide five-foot paved shoulders.

Replacing the railing at the CSX Railroad overpass with a solid concrete barrier wall to meet current safety requirements.

During the replacement of the railroad overpass railing, traffic will be one-way and maintained by a temporary traffic signal. This should take up to two months to complete.

In downtown Macclenny, broken sidewalks will be repaired and handicap-accessible ramps added at the cross street intersections.

Most of the work will be done during daytime hours on weekdays with no lane closures allowed between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

To minimize congestion in downtown Macclenny, resurfacing between Lowder and East streets will only be allowed at night between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The traffic signal pole in the southeastern corner of the U.S. 90 and State Road 121 intersection will be relocated to prevent further impacts from turning trucks. Small concrete posts will be installed around the mast arm pole to protect it.

The entire project will take about eight months to finish with completion expected in early Spring 2011.

The FDOT has hired APAC Southeast Inc., of Gainesville to do the work.