OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Marion County Engineer Steven Cohoon provided a roadway update for projects that are currently taking place within the county at the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025.

This was the first iteration of a monthly update, with the intention of providing a snapshot of the roadway projects currently going on within the county at the office of the county engineer.

Deep volume of projects

The county engineer’s office currently has 53 active design projects. There are another 10 construction projects, which aren’t specifically roadways, and including some of the rural activities that the county is involved in, they’re currently working on nearly 40 different projects in addition to the 53 active design projects.

In the last 30 days, the county has been awarded $62 million in road projects–those are construction projects, not including the design awards that the county has received. The county has been awarded more than $100 million over the past year, and there’s another $30 to $50 million queued up in construction, waiting on a few right-of-way items to be resolved before they’re to be advertised.

Platform to provide public with the latest on projects 

The county’s Engage Marion public engagement portal was recently launched, and the site has a number of tools on the platform that will allow people to subscribe and get monthly updates on the roadway projects.

Reducing congestion

The SW 40th Ave., SW 49th Ave. design build project, has a lot of construction activity taking place, with 70 percent being completed with the curb and guttural work, and almost 50 percent completed with the asphalt. At the northern part of the project limits, SW 43rd Ave., there is a signal in a flashing mode. The county has heard from the City of Ocala that there’s been a lot of peak hour queuing on SW 43rd as you start to approach SR 200, said Cohoon. This is from SW 66th St. to the south, and this is the last extension of the SW 40th Ave., SW 49th Ave. corridor up to SW 43rd Ave. This is that parallel corridor to I-75 that not only helps relieve I-75 but also helps to relieve some of the congestion from SR 200.

“It’s almost a perfect storm if you will,” said Cohoon. “We have the 66th St. Bridge that was impacted on I-75, that’s been changed to one lane in alternate directions. We also have the peak season happening right now, we have a lot of people coming into Florida and Ocala for vacation homes. We have also closed down the entrance of Heathbrook, the backside, and part of that closure is we have to construct the western side of the new four-lane facility.”

The county is working with a contractor who has ensured and is committed to having the backside entrance of Heathbrook open before Black Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. The signal is also expected to be operational by next week and may happen as soon on Nov. 21, said Cohoon.

One item that was approved on the consent agenda is that there will be an extension of the westbound left turn lane, to alleviate problems because of the volume of traffic that’s heading west on SW 43rd, they’ll be able to queue up and get quickly and safely onto the new SW 40 Ave. and SW 49th Ave. connection.

Timely discussion 

Commissioner Kathy Bryant put in a request to have a conversation with the City of Ocala, with the county’s team, regarding some other movements in the area, and to have several issues addressed before opening SW 49th Ave. When commuters are able to come through SW 49th Ave. and turn right to head east on SW 43rd and get up to SW 27th Ave, and SW 43rd, the stacking lane is already too short and needs to be extended, she said. There is urgency related to this request, with vehicles not being able to get into the stacking lane, creating further delays with traffic backing up because of the problem.

“When we close SW 66th, and we’re diverting all of that traffic over to SW 43rd, it’s going to create an even bigger problem,” said Bryant, who wanted to make it clear that she wasn’t criticizing either the city or the county. “This is my formal request, that we have that conversation, and that we make sure that we possibly lengthen that stacking lane for that left-hand turn as well as opening up as soon as possible a second turning lane as it’s already needed.”

Bryant also suggested evaluating the stacking lanes going toward SR 200 on SW 43rd because of the congestion.

The turn lane extension will happen after the light comes on at SW 43rd Ave. Once the light is actuated, it will allow the side street traffic to be able to move out more freely. It will help to relieve some of the congestion that is there, said Cohoon.

The county is in communication with the city regarding the congestion issues. The objective is to get the turn lanes added on SW 27th Ave. before SW 49th is opened. The county has been in close coordination with City of Ocala in relation to SW 27th Ave.

“We’ve been drafting an interlocal agreement that talks about property swaps,” said Cohoon. “We have some needs out on 38th as it relates to drainage retention areas around where the airport’s at, and where it relates to other city properties, the sprayfield and there’s an overall need at 27th for turn lanes and extensions. What we’re trying to craft is an agreement that allows us to work together. We get some benefit to advance another project, and the city and the county get the benefit of adding capacity to on SW 27th and SW 43rd.”

The design component of extending the turn lanes will move quickly, but there are some challenges, as it can’t be put easily under the design bill because the proximity could be questionable. However, county engineering has been working with procurement, said Cohoon.

“I can easily go directly to a design engineer and start that ball rolling immediately, in coordination and concurrent to the efforts of the city,” said Cohoon.

Coordinated conversations

There’s a lot of utility coordination happening down at SW 66th St., where a signalized intersection will be built on the south end, and the timing of that project will tie in with the closing of the SW 66th St. Bridge, said Cohoon.

“Once we get done with our efforts and exercise, the DOT will come in right behind us and close down SW 66th St. and convert that to a four-lane bridge and it will be higher than it is today,” said Cohoon.

This is expected to happen within three months, and county engineering is coordinating with the FDOT, although there may be a slight lag on that timeframe. Activities will be taking place at SW 66th St. and I-75 that don’t require the closure of the bridge, however, reducing the amount of time SW 66th St. has to be closed over I-75.

It’s expected that SW 49th will be open in the next three to four months.

Other projects

SW 80th Ave. Segment 1

Add two lanes from SW 90th St. to 0.62 miles north of SW 38th St.

  • Phase 1A, Notice to Proceed, the first week of January 2026
  • Phase IB, 80% design plans complete. 100% plans nearing completion
  • Phase 1B, 11 appraisals underway for right-of-way acquisitions and easements
  • Completing negotiations/draft interlocal agreement with Marion County School Board

SW 27th Ave. Task B

New roundabout at SW 66th St.

  • 90% design plans complete. 100% plans nearing completion.
  • Finalizing utility coordination with Duke Energy and City of Ocala Electric
  • Right-of-way offers submitted for all properties