PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — At Monday night’s State of the City address, Port St. Lucie Mayor Greg Oravec received applause when he announced the Crosstown Parkway Extension project will be open to drivers on Sept. 28.
That is ahead of the previous target date in November.
The project has been envisioned for decades, and under construction since early 2017. With Port St. Lucie’s growing population, drivers hope the new roadway will alleviate traffic on other major roadways through the city.
Drivers and people who live near Crosstown Parkway are eager for the opening.
“I honestly can’t wait. [It will] Cut my drive time to work a lot,” said C.J King, who lives within a block of Crosstown Parkway. Currently, he drives to Port St. Lucie Boulevard to get to U.S 1.
Crosstown Parkway will be a new east to west corridor to help drivers get to I-95 and U.S 1. King said it will save him a significant amount of time during his commute.
“Twenty minutes probably. Just because I won’t be sitting in [Port St. Lucie Boulevard] traffic,” said King.
Maqueda Wilson’s mother lives just two homes away from Crosstown Parkway. Wilson said her mother remembers dealing with the noise of early construction.
“It disturbed my mom when she’s trying to sleep because she works odd hours, I guess you can say. So, it disturbed her in the morning when they started early,” Wilson said.
King also said detours created by construction bring more cars through his neighborhood.
“There’s a lot of traffic on this side street that I’d rather not have,” said King.
Wilson and King both say the temporary inconveniences are worth the reward of quicker commutes and less traffic on Port St. Lucie Boulevard and Prima Vista Boulevard.
While the road will be open to drivers in September, there will still be finishing touches to the project that might still last into November.
