Business leaders and various government officials gathered March 2 to commemorate the completion of the Lakewood Ranch Boulevard extension south to Fruitville Road. The completion of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard will facilitate travel from Fruitville Road in Sarasota County, to U.S. 301, north of the Manatee River, via the Fort Hamer Bridge, in Manatee County. The road will improve the transportation network for people in both counties, alleviating congestion on I-75. This is the second north-south road that the Lakewood Ranch Stewardship District has built; the Lorraine Road extension, between University Parkway and Fruitville Road, was finished in 2017. “The Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Lorraine Road projects are of regional significance in that they provide increased mobility, not for just Lakewood Ranch residents but everyone in Manatee and Sarasota counties,” said Rex Jensen, president, and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc. “They are a continuation of our established standards of planning and infrastructure quality.”

Both the Lorraine Road and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard extensions connect Manatee and Sarasota counties and run along Lakewood Ranch Waterside, The Ranch’s first development in Sarasota County, with more than 5,100 homes planned at completion. Waterside Place, the lakefront town center that will be home to stylish shops, acclaimed restaurants, and more, is under construction and expected to be complete by the end of the year. The road project was a collaboration between Schroeder-Manatee Ranch (the developer of Lakewood Ranch) and Sarasota County; Schroeder-Manatee Ranch has a history, since its inception, of planning and implementing infrastructure ahead of development.

For more information on the Lakewood Ranch Blvd extension