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After years of waiting and struggling through difficult economic times — and good times, when the availability of contractors and materials became a problem — Volusia County is ready to widen a well-traveled road on DeLand’s south side.
The County Council June 16 ratified a contract with P&S Paving Inc. to four-lane Orange Camp Road between the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Beltway and Interstate 4.
The county will pay the Daytona Beach company almost $10.1 million to add two lanes to the mile-long piece of road, which links DeLand with Lake Helen and serves as a lifeline for Victoria Park.
The project also includes building a roundabout at the intersection of Orange Camp Road and the MLK Beltway.
When will the work actually start?
“I’d expect to see some equipment going in there by the end of July,” County Engineer Tadd Kasbeer said.
The contract gives P&S 540 days to complete the work. That equates to an 18-month timetable. If the work actually begins in late July or early August, the four-laning and roundabout must be finished no later than early 2022.
“Turning a signalized intersection into a roundabout is going to be the big challenge,” Kasbeer said. “The length of time and the need. You’re trying to keep an intersection with a lot of cars going through it open. I ask drivers to be patient, and when it’s finished, it will be good.”
The intersection of the two county thoroughfares is a busy crossing, according to figures compiled by traffic engineers. The county’s 2018 traffic counts — the latest available — show an average daily volume of 15,040 vehicles use Orange Camp Road between the intersection with MLK Beltway and I-4, while the segment of the MLK Beltway between Orange Camp and Cassadaga Road posts an average of 12,040 cars and trucks per day.
The $10.1 million for widening Orange Camp comes from various sources. More than $3.7 million is from the county’s 2004 road-construction bond issue, and approximately $3.36 million comes from road-impact fees imposed on new development in the northwest quadrant of the county.
Another $1.3 million comes from water and sewer utilities, whose pipes will be adjusted and reinstalled.
Other funding comes from Volusia County’s transportation trust fund and proportionate-share payments from some developments within the northwest-quadrant impact-fee zone.
