The Florida Department of Transportation is building two new 12-foot turn lanes at the SR 56 and Meadow Pointe Boulevard intersection as part of a $19.8 million repaving project in Wesley Chapel that began the week of Aug. 24.

Crews are reworking the merge area and roadway transitions at that intersection to handle added left-turn movements onto SR 56, according to FDOT's Tampa Bay project page. Separately, the SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard intersection is getting safety improvements, ADA upgrades at crossings and ramps, minor drainage work, traffic signal upgrades and new overhead lighting.

The intersection work is part of a larger project covering 7.3 miles across two road segments. SR 56 is being resurfaced for 3.8 miles from west of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to Meadow Pointe Boulevard. Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, or CR 581, is being resurfaced for 3.5 miles from SR 56 south to CR 54/Wesley Chapel Boulevard.

The two stretches form an L-shape through the center of Wesley Chapel, passing neighborhoods and schools on both sides of I-75.

The contractor, Preferred Materials Inc., started work the week of Aug. 24. FDOT estimates completion by fall 2027. No new through lanes are planned. The stated purpose is to preserve and extend the life of the existing pavement, according to a Wesley Chapel community news report on the project.

Nightly closures move segment by segment

Lane closures run from 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and are weather permitting. FDOT is not publishing a single calendar for the entire project. Instead, the agency posts segment-by-segment closure schedules each week as crews move through the corridor, according to a Pasco County community news report.

FDOT's District 7 office announced the first closures on Bruce B. Downs north of SR 56 on Aug. 24 via its official account on X.

FDOT has not said whether later phases closer to the CR 54/Wesley Chapel Boulevard end of Bruce B. Downs will bring longer or more disruptive closures than those scheduled so far.

How to stay updated

Residents can sign up for email alerts and check the weekly closure schedule at FDOT's Tampa Bay project page. The project contact is John McShaffrey at 813-975-6930.