For people who work in the Carillon Office Complex in Pinellas County, getting home each day has become a bit more confusing.
The issue surrounds ongoing Ulmerton Road construction between 38th Avenue North and I-275 and the northbound lanes of Carillon Parkway as they exit on to Ulmerton Road.
Now a change in the lane striping has caused driver confusion. What used to be one dedicated left turn lane, one through lane and one dedicated right turn lane has been recently restriped as two left turn lanes and a through or right turn lane.
The problem comes with inattentive drivers driving through the intersection in a lane designated now as left turn only. Many times each day, traffic in the correct lane finds itself fighting for a lane with neighbors to the left.
Palm Harbor resident Paul Meyer says the way it is marked today is confusing at best.
"That's making it difficult and dangerous," he said.
Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson Kris Carson took a look at the intersection and agrees some changes need to be made.
"We agree it's a little bit confusing, so we've asked the contractor to go in and bag one of the signal heads and try to align up the signal heads a bit better so people exiting Carillon Parkway will know which lane they need to be in," she said.
Once adjusted, drivers should have a more clear and distinct path to follow.
Carson also added this phase of construction is nearly a year ahead of schedule and should wrap by this summer.
The next phase of Ulmerton Road construction has already started between 49th Street North and 38th Avenue North.
A $19 million project will replace the existing Roosevelt Boulevard overpass at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport, repave Ulmerton between 49th Street and 38th Street, remove the signal at 40th Street and install a new signal at 38th Avenue North.
Work in this phase is scheduled to complete in the fall 2017.