Construction is proceeding up to the brink of a new turnpike interchange south of The Villages at County Road 468.
Several cranes rise into the sky at the turnpike, where a new bridge will be built over the highway as part of the four-lane 468 expansion.
Dirt has been scooped away where the new lanes will be built, extending miles south of the turnpike.
The Wildwood City Commission approved the final payment of $73,980 Monday night to Hamlet Construction Co. of Ocala on a $490,000 contract for relocation of utility lines on the highway.
By next year, unpaved, dirt ramps will be installed for turnpike access.
And that’s where construction may stop, according to Sumter County Administrator Bradley Arnold.
He said officials have pledged to build the interchange by 2025, which leaves a decade to get it done.
The interchange, about 1.3 miles north of the Okahumpa Service Plaza, will be completed when money becomes available for paving the ramps and installing traffic signals, Arnold said.
Last year, the Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to postpone construction of the turnpike interchange and instead spend money to improve the interchange at U.S. 301 in Wildwood.
Since then, however, improvements on County Road 468 have continued.
The interchange will provide a better turnpike connection for many villagers because Morse Boulevard feeds directly into County Road 468 at State Road 44.
A study of the project several years ago by Kimley-Horn & Associates of Ocala said the new interchange is needed because the population in the tri-county area of Sumter, Lake and Marion counties is expected to reach more than 770,000 by 2020.
The Villages acquired much of the project right-of-way for conveyance to the state, according to the report.
Arnold said even without the new interchange, Villagers will be able to use 468 to get to the County Road 470 interchange south of the service plaza more easily.