Big Budget of $554 Million for Transportation Improvements

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The rapid growth in Marion County has created traffic congestion and safety issues on several roads in the County. Traffic congestion was the top issue as ranked by 91% of the respondents in the Public Survey conducted by the Ocala/Marion Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) about the primary transportation challenges in Marion County. Other top issues included traffic safety, traffic signal timing, and not enough travel lane capacity on roadways.

To address these issues, the list of high-priority transportation projects to help alleviate the congestion was presented by the TPO at the September 25 Tourist Development Council meeting.

The Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization endorsed the Transportation Improvement Program for FY 2026 to FY 2030 in June 2025, with projects grouped into five categories including 32 Highway-Roadway projects as well as Bicycle-Pedestrian, Aviation, Transit Funding, and Maintenance-Planning projects.

More Growth = More Roads

The rapid population growth is expected to continue. The County’s population is expected to increase by 40% over the next 25 years to reach 590,000 residents by 2050. That’s an increase of 170,000 new residents from 425,000 in 2024. Over the past five years, the County has grown by over 57,000 new residents, according to the Bureau of Economic Research (BEBR) at the University of Florida.

The majority of the new roads and the transportation improvement projects are located in the southwest and southeast quadrants of the County partly because of the existing large communities of Marion Oaks and Silver Springs Shores that are already approved for tens of thousands of residential units.

The 2030 Existing & Committed Roadways Map includes nearly a dozen planned transportation projects.
The draft 2050 Cost Feasible Roadway Projects Map is part of the draft 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP).

No Impacts in the FPA

There are no major road projects planned within the Farmland Preservation Area (FPA) or in the northeast section of the County. While there are no road projects planned in the FPA, there are three projects near the FPA and two areas in the FPA that were identified in the survey with High Safety Concerns.

High Safety Concerns in the FPA:

I-75 and CR 318 intersection at Irvine.
The “Y” intersection at Hwy 301 and 441.

Three projects near the FPA include:

I-75/SR 326 Interchange, including additional turn lanes on SR 326 at the interchange ramps, and improvements to interstate ramps, for a cost of $32.5 Million.
NW 49th Street – New 4-Lane Road to connect CR 225A to NW 44th Avenue. This is a connector road for the new interchange at I-75 and NW 49th Street.
NW 80th Avenue – Widen to 4 Lanes from SW 90th St to the new NW 49th St, just north of the US 27 intersection

Additional Highlights:

The cost of the new interchange at NW 49th Street is a whopping $161 Million – a $26 Million increase from the $135 Million that was reported by FDOT in August of 2024. See the FDOT report here.
I-75 Auxiliary Lanes (from SR 44 to SR 326) at a cost of $448 Million.

Link to the full Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which was adopted by the Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization in June 2025

📣 Have Traffic Concerns? Attend the Upcoming Meeting

The Draft 2050 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) will be presented on Tuesday, September 30th at a Public Open House at the Mary Sue Rich Center 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM.

October 28th

Public hearing for the Draft LRTP will be held at the Marion County Commission Auditorium at 3:00 PM

November 13th

LRTP plan adoption

For More Information: www.ocalamariontpo.org

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