Polk County details phased Thompson Nursery Road plan; Winter Haven residents press for separated sidewalks and a traffic signal

Polk County Roads and Drainage Director Jay Jarvis told the Winter Haven City Commission on March 10 that the Thompson Nursery Road widening and realignment project is proceeding in multiple phases, with segment 1 expected to go to bid this summer and construction to start this fall, and that the county intends to seek board approval on remaining alignments in April.

The presentation matters to Winter Haven because the corridor runs through growing residential areas and commercial developments where residents told the commission they fear insufficient pedestrian and bicycle accommodations as new stores and subdivisions open. Jay Jarvis said the project is divided into two phases, with phase 1 split into multiple segments running from Highway 17 near Eagle Lake to West Lake Ruby Road and phase 2 continuing to Highway 27, and that county staff is updating an alignment adopted by the Polk County Board of County Commissioners in the mid‑2000s.

Jarvis said the county is awaiting a Florida Department of Transportation permit for the Highway 17 connection and that the board directed staff to pursue a sidewalk option after public comments and property‑owner input. “Our intent is that this will go out to bid sometime this summer,” Jarvis said, describing segment 1 as the stretch from Highway 17 to Rifle Range Road/Snively Avenue and estimating that segment’s construction would take at least two years. For later segments he said design, permitting and right‑of‑way work could take three to four years and that segments 2 and 4 are likely to be grouped for construction; full completion of the entire corridor depends on funding availability.

Residents who live along Thompson Nursery Road urged the commission to press Polk County for separated pedestrian and bicycle facilities and for a traffic signal at an access point planned for a future Publix. Linda Fife, vice president of the Traditions homeowners association, said roughly 595 homes are represented by her HOA and described ongoing meetings with county staff. “A 6‑foot sidewalk doesn't do the job,” Fife said, arguing that a multiuse path set as far from the travel lanes as possible would be safer for children, elderly residents and people with disabilities.

James Collette, president of the Traditions HOA, told commissioners he worried about crossings for people walking, cycling and using golf carts between neighborhood amenities on opposite sides of Thompson Nursery Road. “I do have a big concern that somebody is gonna get killed at that intersection,” Collette said, urging the commission to support requests for a traffic signal and other safety measures.

Jarvis described the design options the county studied — including sidewalks on both sides, or a single‑side sidewalk paired with a multiuse path — and said property owners and retailers have been consulted. He noted concerns county staff has identified with multiuse paths, including unauthorized motorized vehicle use and related liability and operational questions, and said the county has acquired some right‑of‑way already from owners willing to sell rather than face condemnation. Jarvis also told commissioners the county has an agreement with a developer on the Lake Wales Ridge Drive intersection and expects some developer-funded improvements to be in place before the county’s widening construction begins.

On construction staging, Jarvis said the county plans to maintain at least two lanes of access (one in each direction) as work proceeds. He also said funding is not yet sufficient to build every segment at once; segment 5 could be delayed if additional revenue does not materialize, though the county hopes to let segments 2, 4 and 5 as a single contract if possible.

The next public milestone is Polk County Board consideration of the alignment studies, which Jarvis said the county expects to present in April; that decision would allow staff to advance design, permitting and remaining right‑of‑way acquisitions. Residents at the meeting were urged to raise design modification requests when the county presents the alignment for formal approval.