Driving down the Overseas Highway is always a challenge during the busy season: the cooler months. And it's about to get even trickier, with two major construction projects scheduled to start the week of Dec. 2.
One project will stretch from Marathon to Islamorada and is scheduled to take about a year and half. Crews will be repairing washouts along the side of the road and repairing shoulders and bike paths. It's the result of Hurricane Irma, which hit the Keys more than two years ago.
The other project is in the Lower Keys, from Boca Chica to Big Pine. It will focus on shorelines and the roadside fence on Big Pine that keeps Key deer from getting hit by cars. It's expected to take nine months.
Between the two projects, the roadwork is budgeted at more than $10 million.