Nearly 11 miles of State Road 247 will be resurfaced between Branford and the Columbia County line beginning Monday, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

The $5.3 million project includes resurfacing the travel lanes beginning at US 129 in Branford and adding 5-foot paved shoulders in the rural section of the roadway. A 500-foot section of the road just south of the Columbia County line will be completely reconstructed due to problems underneath the asphalt. Traffic may be slightly detoured when this work is underway.

The entire project is expected to take about five months to complete, pending weather delays or other unforeseen conditions. The FDOT has hired Anderson Columbia Company Inc., of Lake City to do the work.

To minimize inconvenience to those traveling to work or school in the mornings, there will be no lanes closed between 6-8:30 a.m. weekdays. At this time, the contractor does not expect to work on Fridays or the weekends.

One lane, up to two miles long, will be closed after 8:30 a.m. to allow for the resurfacing. The speed limit will be reduced through the lane closures but will remain the same (up to 60 mph) in the other sections of SR 247. However, motorists are reminded that speeding fines can be doubled in construction work zones when workers are present and we ask that they slow down for the safety of our workers and for their own safety since the road conditions may have changed.

The contractor anticipates starting at U.S. 129 in Branford and heading north with the milling (removal of the top layer of asphalt) and repaving. In the rural section, north of Branford, two layers of asphalt will be placed. After the first layer of asphalt, they will begin working on the shoulders of the road to add five feet of asphalt to both sides. The final layer of asphalt will be placed at the end of the project.

Since the road is being widened to accommodate the paved shoulders, mail boxes must be relocated further away from the pavement. The contractor will work with the postal carriers to ensure that the mailboxes are relocated between mail runs.

When entering the road during a lane closure, motorists should wait for the traffic to pass in the direction in which they wish to travel to avoid running into head-on traffic. Flaggers will be at major cross streets when lanes are closed.

In addition to the roadway work, the drainage structures or culverts under the roadway and at some of the driveways will be replaced or modified to bring them up to the latest safety requirements. The home or business owner will be notified in advance of the work at their driveway.

The FDOT resurfaced 10 miles of SR 247 between the Suwannee County line and the Interstate 75 overpass in Columbia County in the summer of 2007.

The current resurfacing job was moved up in the schedule because the design plans were ready and there were funds available in the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Questions, complaints or suggestions can be forwarded to the FDOT Public Information Office at 386-758-3714 or toll-free at 800-749-2967.