Eastbound Pipkin Road to Reopen Between Harden Boulevard and South Florida Avenue on Thursday

It has been more than two years since eastbound Pipkin Road was open between Harden Boulevard and South Florida Avenue, but on Thursday afternoon, that’s finally going to change.

The long-awaited reopening of the nearly mile-long stretch is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m., according to Polk County officials. It has been closed since January 2022 as part of Polk County’s $55.6 million widening of five miles of West Pipkin Road, taking it from two lanes to four lanes between Medulla Road by the airport to Harden Boulevard by the railroad tracks.

Traffic has been detoured onto either Harden Boulevard or Old Highway 37 as a two-way left-turn lane was added as a third lane between Harden Boulevard and South Florida Avenue to allow traffic from either direction to make safer left turns from the roadway.

The entire widening project is currently scheduled to end in early-to-mid November. Polk County officials said until all construction finishes, motorists can still expect slower traffic and delays, especially during rush hours and throughout the upcoming Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo, April 9-14 at Lakeland Linder International Airport.

“Commuters are advised to drive carefully and add extra drive time to trips through this area,” said Bill Skelton, the project management liaison for Polk County Roads & Drainage Division.

Long-sought traffic signal to go live March 20

In addition to reopening that portion of the road, Skelton said a long-sought traffic signal has been installed at Medulla Road and Pipkin near the airport is scheduled to begin operating on March 20.

Jaxon Crabtree, 15, was hit and killed by a school bus on Dec. 5 as he tried to cross West Pipkin Road at that intersection to reach Kathleen High School’s Central Florida Aerospace Academy. It is an intersection city and county officials knew had seen accident rates increase dramatically in recent years during construction.