GROVELAND, Fla. — Officials Florida Department of Transportation say they are pushing ahead with a plan to realign State Road 50 to just north of downtown Groveland.

What You Need To Know

  • Florida Department of Transportation officials say there is a plan in place to realign State Road 50 between Villa City Road and Brown Street

  • They say the project will help alleviate truck traffic through downtown Groveland

  • Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2028

 Lake County transportation leaders say the realignment has been a top priority for decades.

“The traffic gets clogged up here and it gets worse with every subdivision that goes up,” said Kim E. Jemison, who owns a flower shop off State Road 50 in Groveland.

She said much of that traffic on State Road 50 is truck traffic.

“They will actually shake the window with some of the traffic,” she said.

Downtown Groveland sits at on a major commercial trucking route, with the convergence of state roads 19, 50 and 33. Currently, truck drivers have to make some harrowing turns in downtown Groveland, which can clog traffic in front of city hall.

That’s why FDOT officials say they want to keep the truck traffic north of downtown with the planed realignment.

“(We) hope to change the looks of Groveland, not just travel through it,” Jemison said.

The realignment would be between Villa City Road and Brown Street. But some are concerned the project will hurt businesses in downtown.

Jemison, though, doesn’t think so.

“That’s where I think the realignment will help,” she said. “We want a walkable community down to the lake with a bike path, and the trail and everything else.”

Officials say quite a bit of right of way will need to be acquired for the realignment, which will cost an estimated $49 million.

Construction costs are expected to come in at around $33.8 million, with work planned to begin in the fall of 2028.