SR 40 Project Bringing Huge Headaches To Astor

    Roadwork along SR 40 in Astor continues to bring huge headaches to the River Country community. With traffic delays approaching an hour in some cases along the single roadway through the area, complications of a Florida Department of Transportation project are raising tensions in the area.
   The FDOT is undertaking a $10.1 million project along SR 40 running east from the Lake County Line to the St. Johns River. Beyond a planned resurfacing, the project includes a wider shoulder, drainage modifications in the form of a French drain system between Astor and Astor Park, and guardrail adjustments.
   The project isn’t scheduled to be formally completed until the end of 2023, according to documents provided by the FDOT. Requests to FDOT representatives for comment on the situation this week went unanswered.
   Locals are happy to talk about the situation, however.
   “They are messing with small businesses really, really, bad,” said Rave Tripp, who operates Raven’s Veggies and More on SR 40 next to River Road. Work in that area last week effectively closed her business.
   “It was very slow. They had trucks blocking my store, and people couldn’t get in or out.”
   Tripp, who also works at an area restaurant, said that business has been closing on days when the work is most impactful because customers simply can't get around town.
   “It’s horrible,” Tripp said.
   Tripp said she doesn’t know why the work isn’t being done at night, when impacts to the community’s function would be reduced.
   Astor Area Chamber of Commerce President James Powell, who owns two campgrounds in the community, said the road work is having a community-wide impact on businesses.
   “I had two cabins cancel over the weekend because they sat in traffic for two hours. It is affecting people’s business.”
   Powell said he understands the work needs to be done, especially the French drains.
   "It had to be fixed," Powell said, speaking of how a swampy area along the highway leaves the under-road area wet and prone to early deterioration of the pavement. "If they didn't put those drains in, in a few years they would need to do it again."
   But Powell agrees with the sentiment that the work could maybe be done at night when it would have less impact, or even wondered if bringing in police or other experienced flag men might move traffic along more quickly.
   “There should be no reason for people to sit for two hours.”