Overnight lane closures planned on Cortez Boulevard in Hernando County

Drivers on Cortez Boulevard are running into nighttime lane closures at one of Hernando County’s busiest crossroads, where US 98 and SR 50 meet Mondon Hill Road and Spring Lake Highway in Brooksville. The Florida Department of Transportation said the work began Sunday, June 21, and is scheduled to continue nightly through Thursday, June 25, from 8 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.

The closures are part of FDOT project 447237-1-52-01, a rigid pavement reconstruction of the intersection that is rebuilding it from asphalt to concrete pavement. FDOT said the job also includes asphalt resurfacing on the approaches, safety modifications, ADA-compliant curb ramps, driveway reconstruction, minor drainage work, minor signalization work, signing and pavement markings, and lighting improvements.

Construction was already underway as of May 18, which means the lane restrictions are not a short-term patch but part of a broader rebuild on a corridor that carries steady local traffic between Spring Lake, Brooksville and points east and west along Cortez Boulevard. FDOT’s weekly lane-closure advisory for June 21-27 carried the same Hernando County restriction, underscoring that the nightly work is the one drivers should plan around this week.

The overnight schedule is designed to keep crews out of the heaviest daytime commuter periods, but anyone traveling through the area after dark should still expect delays and reduced lane capacity in the active work zone. That matters for late shifts, delivery runs and trips that cut across the county after sunset, when drivers often use Cortez Boulevard as a main east-west route.

FDOT’s Hernando County project list also shows additional SR 50 and Cortez Boulevard work in the corridor, a sign that traffic impacts on the roadway are likely to keep coming as the agency continues upgrading one of the county’s most heavily used arterial roads. For now, the practical message is simple: allow extra time, slow down through the work zone and expect the Mondon Hill Road and Spring Lake Highway intersection to remain a nighttime bottleneck until the June 25 schedule runs its course.