Gainesville completes SW 62nd Blvd Connector project ahead of schedule

The City of Gainesville has completed the SW 62nd Boulevard Connector project, opening the 1.1-mile roadway one month ahead of schedule. The new span links the Newberry Road and Oaks Mall area with the Archer Road and Butler Plaza area, improving accessibility, safety and shaving time off neighborhood commutes. 

Funded in large part by a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the $18.8 million connector is designed as a multimodal artery. It features wider (11-foot) travel lanes, ten-foot shoulders with seven-foot buffered bicycle lanes on each side, and a 10-foot multiuse path. It also includes the first simple span bridge constructed by the City of Gainesville, with a 330-foot segment crossing Hogtown Creek.

“A well-connected road network is crucial,” said Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward. “These changes improve safety and make it easier for neighbors to choose alternative modes of transportation. They help disperse traffic and reduce delay and congestion. In the end, they make our community more comfortable, more convenient and a safer place to live.”

In using a “Complete Streets” model, the connector aligns with the Vision Zero Policy adopted by the Gainesville City Commission in 2018 to improve traffic safety. This approach to planning, designing, building, operating and maintaining streets enables safe access for all people who need to use them, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.

Long recognized as a necessary solution to ease traffic congestion, the direct route between SW 43rd Street/Clark Butler Boulevard and the southern end of SW 52nd Street improves flow on SW 34th Street, SW 20th Avenue, Newberry Road and Archer Road. It also has potential to increase highway efficiency and reduce accident rates on I-75 by giving drivers an alternate path across southwest Gainesville.  

“This project has been talked about since the 1990s,” said City of Gainesville Public Works Director Brian Singleton. “It’s very exciting to complete the roadway grid that provides these safe and improved options for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians navigating between the commercial centers in this part of the city.”

With the SW 62nd Boulevard Connector complete, the City has four other high-visibility road projects currently in the works. These include the University Avenue safety improvements funded by an $8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation; improvements to NE Ninth Street funded by the Streets Stations and Strong Foundations (SSSF) half-cent infrastructure surtax; the planned addition of buffered bike lanes to NW Eighth Avenue between Sixth Street and Main Street; and the resurfacing of NW Eighth Avenue from Newberry Road to NW 40th Drive.