If you live in southwest Port St. Lucie, you don't need a study to tell you the roads are getting crowded. But the city did one anyway — and on February 18, 2026, the City Council signed off on a plan to do something about it.
First, some context on why. PSL has added more than 100,000 residents since 2010, with 60,000 of them arriving just since 2020. As the city's strategic communications manager Scott Samples noted, as more development hits southwest PSL, those main roads only get busier.
The council reaffirmed three big moves. One: requiring developers to complete the Hegener Drive and Paar Drive corridor connecting to Range Line Road — making builders pay for the roads their projects demand.
Two: a future I-95 interchange at Marshall Parkway. FDOT is set to begin studying it in fiscal year 2026-27. Traffic modeling suggests it would pull pressure off the Gatlin Boulevard and Becker Road interchanges by giving the area another way onto the interstate.
Three: the council took an early look at a developer-proposed north-south connector running up from Martin County. The analysis was mixed — it could ease some regional traffic and bring economic benefits, but it might also pile more cars onto an already-busy Becker Road. That one needs more study.
The bigger shift may be in the fine print. The council adopted policies requiring developers to dedicate land for roads earlier and build key infrastructure sooner — trying to get ahead of the growth instead of chasing it.
None of this fixes the commute overnight; interchange studies and new corridors take years. But it's a clear statement of priorities from a city that's been adding people faster than almost anywhere in Florida — and is finally putting the road plan in writing.