Officials discuss adding new I-75 interchange to ease congestion

The congestion is constant: lines of cars backed up along Peachland and Veterans Boulevards, all leading to the Kings Highway interchange.

“We stay and spend a lot of time at the traffic lights waiting to move, to leave. The turn lanes are backed up,” said one Charlotte County driver.

Charlotte and Sarasota Counties will discuss adding a new ramp on I-75 at an upcoming meeting.

Raintree Boulevard is an underused road that meets the interstate. Right now, there’s not much there, which makes it one of the prime locations for the new interchange, giving drivers another way to exit I-75.

“There would be some infrastructure work that needs to happen, besides the interchange to expand the roadways to handle the traffic that would be coming off of an interchange,” said Charlotte County Spokesman Brian Gleason.

Besides easing traffic at the Kings Highway interchange, it would also break up a nearly 10-mile stretch up to Toledo Blade Boulevard in North Port.

“I have no problem with it. It could make our lives easier,” said Rob Yago, a delivery driver.

The project would cost tens of millions of dollars. But the price tag has some drivers questioning if it’s really worth it.

“I don’t know that it’s necessary to spend that kind of county money on it,” Yago said.

The cost would be split by local, state and federal funds. The proposal is still in the beginning stages. It could be more than a decade before a new interchange is actually built.