Residents in Manatee County are gearing up for a major change to a major intersection in town.
The Florida Department of Transportation will soon begin reconstructing University Boulevard where it intersects with Interstate 75.
The new design is called a Diverging Diamond. It's a new concept for Florida highways, where it cuts down on the amount of traffic in that intersection by helping the traffic to flow smoothly and without interruptions onto the interstate. It also helps traffic move faster where drivers are just trying to pass through.
"It's going to increase the traffic flow, or the capacity," said FDOT spokesman Robin Stublin. "It's also going to help reduce crashes at that site."
With the recent construction of the University Town Center Mall close by, the demand for better traffic flow was apparent.
"This is a huge area for my family to visit the mall in the mall area and all the shops," said Tracy Kasper. "So yes it's a big concern, but we also deal with heavy traffic certain times of the year, so we'll get used to it."
Construction begins August 3 and is expected to be completed by September 2017.