$16 million road extension expected to help ease Manatee County traffic

PARRISH, Fla. - Traveling through Manatee County hopefully just got a little easier with the opening of a new section of Ft. Hamer Road.

"The amount of homes that are dropping in the roads can’t take it 301 gets so congested. It’s dangerous down here. They don’t have the lights in place," said a Manatee County resident named Chad. 

Through a public-private partnership, Neal Land and Neighborhoods worked with Manatee County to design and build a new section of Ft. Hamer road. It’s an extension from U.S 301 to north of Moccasin Wallow Road to North River Ranch Trail. 

The section is a total of 3.65 miles. 

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"It’s how it really should be If you’re talking about laying out a project like this you really should have the infrastructure put in first and put in the houses where typically seems like they do it the opposite," said Chad.

The new roadway also leads to Neals’ development North River Ranch. 

Manatee spent $16 million on the project, but Neal built the road. 

Which only cost the county a fraction of what it could have been.  

The new roadway also leads to Neals’ development North River Ranch. 

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"It’s a huge alleviation. We shouldn’t have to get on the interstate in order to drive north and south in this county, that’s the whole problem with our interstate system," said John Neal, the president of Neal Land and Neighborhoods. 

Neal said the road is the longest north to south road, east of the interstate in three counties. Travelers can now go from Parrish south to Venice.

Neal Land and Neighborhoods spent $16 million on the project. 

"It is a major success because it will allow a bypass of the village of Parrish into where most of the development is taken care of. The village of Parrish has suffered a bit during this growing pain time with the new Parrish community high school up here and some people having limited options to get to the high school," said Chad Butzow the director of Manatee County Public Works.

There are two additional phases that will continue Ft. Hamer Road west to I-75. 

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With a new college campus, hospital and retail shops planned residents said it’s a start. 

There are two additional phases that will continue Ft. Hamer Road west to I-75.  It could be three to four years before it's complete.