Detours Planned For Two Road Projects

SEBRING --

Two road projects in the Sebring area, starting Friday, will lead to detours for about two weeks.

•Kenilworth Boulevard will be closed on the west side of Highlands Avenue for two weeks after Sebring High School closes for the holiday break Friday.

Highlands County Road and Bridge crews will be rebuilding the one-block stretch of Kenilworth from Highlands Avenue west to Persimmon Street.

Kyle Green, interim superintendent of Road and Bridge, said the project is scheduled for completion before school resumes on Jan. 5.

•The intersection of Valerie Boulevard and Memorial Drive will be closed Friday after 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31 to widen Memorial Drive and add turning lanes.

Motorists going south on Memorial can take Manatee Drive and get back on Memorial after crossing Bradford Drive.

The northbound detour leads from Bradford to Manatee, and back to Memorial. An alternative detour goes through Snapper Drive from Memorial.

Road officials have scheduled the projects to fall during the Christmas break to inconvenience as few students and parents, said Ramon Gavarrete, the county engineer.

Kenilworth Boulevard

The Kenilworth Boulevard construction project won't affect traffic on Highlands Avenue or on Kenilworth on the east side of Highlands Avenue.

"The big issue is the time constraint from school being out," Green said. "We're going to put as many people out there on the job from Road and Bridge that we can afford to, to get the work completed in a two-week time frame."

Access will be maintained to the Salvation Army Thrift Store, Reliable Sanitation and a car wash along Kenilworth Boulevard, Green said. The Salvation Army store will have access off Persimmon, and Reliable Sanitation and the car wash from rear or side entrances.

This one-block section has to be rebuilt in part to make the road even with the new railroad crossing, which runs across Kenilworth just before the intersection with Highlands Avenue.

Green said the project also will widen the eastbound approach to Highlands Avenue, which will become part of the Sebring Parkway, from two lanes to three. The new approach will have a left-turn-only lane, a through lane in the middle and a right-turn-only lane.

Memorial Drive

The Memorial Drive project will add left and right turning lanes on Memorial and a left turning lane on Valerie.

That part of the road had the highest frequency of crashes on county roads, said Gavarrete.

Since Memorial Elementary School opened up in August, the county also has added traffic signals at the intersection.