County Resumes Pavement Preservation, Work Affects Lower Keys Roads

Monroe County announced that its ongoing pavement preservation program resumed treatments in early December, with crews starting work on December 12, 2025. The contractor Pavement Technology, Inc. began applying treatments on county roads in Cudjoe, Summerland, Ramrod and Little Torch Key, as well as portions of Tavernier that were paved in 2020 as part of an earlier sewer project.

County officials said the surface treatment is intended to extend the life of pavements and that the materials used require reapplication roughly every five years to maintain their protective benefits. The treatments applied this month are part of a planned maintenance cycle rather than full reconstruction, and they do not include work on U.S. 1, which remains outside the scope of this county project.

Motorists in the affected communities should expect crew activity and short traffic delays where work is underway. Temporary vehicle delays were estimated at about 30 minutes in areas with active operations. The county release emphasized that work schedules and timing estimates are weather dependent, and crews will adjust operations if conditions worsen.

For residents and businesses on the impacted islands, the program aims to preserve local roads that serve daily life, local commerce and access to services. Because the lanes treated in 2020 were part of a sewer installation project, this preservation work will help protect those recent investments by slowing surface deterioration and reducing the need for earlier repaving.

The county framed the work as routine infrastructure stewardship, noting that periodic preservation is a cost effective way to keep road networks functional across scattered island communities. Short term inconveniences from traffic interruptions are weighed against longer term benefits of extended pavement life and fewer disruptions from larger scale repairs.

Drivers are advised to allow extra time for travel through Cudjoe, Summerland, Ramrod, Little Torch Key and the noted portions of Tavernier while crews are operating, and to watch for updated timing information if weather alters the planned schedule.