Crash blocks US 301 at Ridge Manor Boulevard in Hernando County

A crash with injuries blocked US 301 at Ridge Manor Boulevard late Thursday evening, stopping traffic on Treiman Boulevard in the Webster area of Hernando County.

Florida Highway Patrol flagged the scene as a vehicle crash with injuries and a roadblock at Treiman Boulevard and Ridge Manor Boulevard. The intersection sits on US 301, a major north-south route that carries local traffic through Ridge Manor and Webster and connects drivers to SR 50, the county’s other major east-west spine.

The blockage landed in the middle of a long-running Florida Department of Transportation widening project that is reshaping the corridor from north of Marka Drive, south of the US 98 and McKethan Road area, to just south of Ridge Manor Boulevard, north of SR 50. FDOT says the work will turn US 301 into a four-lane divided highway with medians, paved shoulders, sidewalks, lighting, drainage improvements, signing, markings and signalization. The project also includes new bridges over the Withlacoochee River crossing area and intersection changes designed to improve capacity and safety.

According to FDOT’s project factsheet, the 4.2-mile job began July 22, 2024, is budgeted at $87.2 million and is scheduled for completion in fall 2028. Prince-Ajax US-301 Mobility Partners is the contractor. FDOT says design began in July 2024, clearing started in early January 2025 and major construction activity ramped up in summer 2025.

Traffic on US 301 has already been under added strain from nearby construction and detours, including a closure at SR 575, or Trilby Road, on the east side of US 301 that began March 2 and is expected to run through August. That makes any crash at Ridge Manor Boulevard more disruptive, especially for drivers trying to move between Hernando and Pasco counties or reach SR 50.

The same general stretch has seen serious wrecks before. On January 23, 2024, a crash at SR 50 and Treiman Boulevard in Ridge Manor injured eight adults, and one patient was flown by helicopter. In a corridor already in the middle of a multimillion-dollar rebuild, another roadblock at Ridge Manor Boulevard was enough to cut off one of Hernando County’s key traffic routes.