Coming down the I-75 off-ramp at Exit 107 this fall, you'll see new pavement markings, new ramp signals and a traffic pattern Collier County hadn't used anywhere before this year. Since the last weekend of May, the Pine Ridge Road interchange has been running as a diverging diamond. Gulf Coast News called it Collier County's first.
The project that built it isn't finished. Two more projects are scheduled for the same stretch: one on the county's portion of Pine Ridge Road and one on I-75 itself. Taken together, the official timelines mean the roads around The Vineyards are only partway through their construction, with work dated into mid-2027 and a county project that could run through 2028.
What changed over Memorial Day weekend
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced the switch for Friday, May 29. Crews closed Pine Ridge Road under I-75 in both directions from 11 p.m. that Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, June 1, for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, then restriped the lanes into the final diverging-diamond layout. Gulf Coast News reported that the interchange opened a day early, on May 31.
FDOT's case for the design is simple. On the project page, the department says a diverging diamond "will significantly reduce delay on Pine Ridge Road" and cuts the number of points where vehicles can conflict. The approximately $27.5 million project rebuilds the on- and off-ramps, adds new signals at the ramps, resurfaces Pine Ridge through the interchange and builds pedestrian and bicycle accommodations through it. If you're returning from up north and haven't driven it yet, FDOT posted a short explainer video on how traffic moves through it.
A finished pattern on an unfinished project
FDOT's announcement of the May switch said it plainly:
"This traffic shift marks the completion of the DDI configuration, not final completion of the project."
The same release listed the work still ahead: sidewalks, barrier walls, pond excavation, permanent signs and signals, lighting, paving, striping and sod, with final completion expected in mid-2027.
Four months later, the list is shorter. FDOT's RoadWatch report published October 8, 2026, for the week of October 11 to 17, says crews are working on:
- Permanent signals and signal timing
- Sign placement
- Wrong-way vehicle detection systems
- Sod placement, clearing and grubbing, and erosion control across the project area
Signal timing is the part you'll feel at the wheel. Lights at the ramps are still being tuned, so how long you wait at the bottom of the off-ramp in October may not match what you get when the project closes out.
Nighttime work continues too. The October 8 report tells drivers to expect lane closures on Pine Ridge Road "when necessary" between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., and ramp closures between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The latest closure FDOT announced with exact dates shut the northbound I-75 off-ramp from 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 1, to 6 a.m. Thursday, October 2, for drainage work. No dated closures for November or December had been posted as of early October.
The bigger closures happened over the summer. WGCU reported a full weekend closure of Pine Ridge beneath I-75 from 11 p.m. Friday, July 24, to 6 a.m. Monday, July 27, for paving and striping. For the May closure, FDOT's detours sent drivers around through Immokalee Road at Exit 111 and Logan Boulevard, or through Golden Gate Parkway at Exit 105 and Livingston Road. Those were the official detours the last time the underpass closed completely.
Three projects, one calendar
The interchange is the project that's furthest along. The other two share the same roads and start dates that line up behind it.
| Project | Limits | Status as of October 2026 | Published timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-75 at Pine Ridge Road interchange, FDOT | Pine Ridge from west of I-75 to east of I-75 | Final pattern open since May 31; finishing work under way | Final completion mid-2027 |
| Pine Ridge Road corridor improvements, Collier County | Pine Ridge from Livingston Road to Lawson Way | 60% design shown June 18, 2026 | Construction could start summer 2027 and last about 18 months |
| I-75 express lanes, FDOT Moving Florida Forward | North of Golden Gate Parkway to south of Alico Road | Public hearing October 27 and 28, 2026 | Construction forecast for fall 2026 |
Put the dates side by side and the overlap is clear. The interchange's finishing work runs to mid-2027. The county corridor project could begin that same summer, and 18 months from a summer 2027 start runs into 2028. The interstate express-lane work is forecast to start this fall. These are planning dates, not contract deadlines, and each agency notes that schedules can change.
West of the interstate: the county's plans for Pine Ridge
Collier County held its open house on the corridor project June 18, 2026, at North Collier Regional Park, 15000 Livingston Road. The biggest change is at Livingston Road. The county's design adds a jughandle that takes Livingston's left turns and eastbound Pine Ridge's right turns out of the main intersection, so the signal can give Pine Ridge traffic more green time.
The county's handout shows where those turns would move:
- The northbound Livingston left turn would be made about 600 feet south of Pine Ridge Road.
- The eastbound Pine Ridge right turn would be made about 420 feet west of Livingston Road.
- Through movements, other left turns and the westbound right turn would stay as they are.
The rest of the plan covers places many drivers use on routine errands. It includes a second left-turn lane from Kramer Drive onto Pine Ridge, a southbound left-turn lane into Meridian Plaza, and longer Pine Ridge turn lanes at Livingston Road, Marquesa Plaza and Community School of Naples. Whippoorwill Lane would be resurfaced, and a new sidewalk would run from Whippoorwill Lane to Lawson Way. That sidewalk would tie into the connection to Napa Boulevard that FDOT is building as part of the interchange project.
The county's list of improvements doesn't include changes at the Vineyards Boulevard or Logan Boulevard intersections. Its handout expected design to be finished by the end of 2026.
On the interstate: express lanes and the Vanderbilt Beach Road access point
The third project is the largest. FDOT's Moving Florida Forward plan for I-75 covers about 21 miles, from north of Golden Gate Parkway to south of Alico Road. It adds two express lanes in each direction between Golden Gate Parkway and Corkscrew Road, and auxiliary lanes in both directions from Golden Gate Parkway to Alico Road. The plan also calls for direct express-lane access at Vanderbilt Beach Road, ramp changes at key interchanges, and a new diverging diamond at Immokalee Road. The project summary doesn't describe a new access point or ramp redesign at Pine Ridge.
For The Vineyards, that puts the interstate's new access point at the community's northern edge, on Vanderbilt Beach Road. That road is changing east of here too. Collier County opened Phase I of the Vanderbilt Beach Road Extension on June 12, 2026, running seven miles from Collier Boulevard to 16th Street NE. In June, Phase II, from 16th Street NE to Everglades Boulevard, was in final design, with construction possibly starting early in 2027.
FDOT's dates for the I-75 work don't all match. The project factsheet lists a "Mid 2026" start, while the newer noise-wall presentation says construction is "currently anticipated to begin in Fall 2026." That same presentation found homes in 29 communities potentially eligible for noise walls, with each wall depending on community support. FDOT says noise walls won't be part of the October hearing.
The hearing is your chance to see the plans and comment before construction:
- In person: Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church, 1225 Piper Boulevard, Naples. Open house from 4 to 4:30 p.m., with the presentation and public comment starting at 4:30 p.m.
- Virtual: Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 6 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. Registration is required in advance.
One heading on FDOT's page lists the virtual hearing as October 27. The detailed schedule on the same page gives October 28, which matches the weekday.
Where the weekly schedule is posted
Most closures through mid-2027 will be announced one week at a time. FDOT District One publishes its RoadWatch report every week, and the October 8 edition covered October 11 to 17. To hear about the interchange directly, you can sign up for construction email updates from the project page, which also has a form for questions to the construction team. The county posts its Pine Ridge corridor materials, including the 60% design handout, on the Collier County transportation engineering projects page.
Getting to and from your street now depends partly on a construction calendar, and it helps to have someone tracking it. If you're weighing a sale, a seasonal rental or a move within North Naples while the Pine Ridge and I-75 work is under way, Chad Phipps can walk you through how these timelines affect the homes you're comparing. Start with an instant home valuation and a local market consultation.
