Dade City's New US 98 Roundabouts Are Open, and Drivers Are Still Learning Them

Every lane movement on the US 98/US 301/7th Street roundabout system in Dade City is now open to traffic, according to FDOT, marking the finish of a project that turned the Dade City Bypass from a two-lane road into a four-lane highway. The widening ran roughly 1.6 miles between 7th Street South and 7th Street North, and FDOT says all construction work wrapped up as of July 22, 2026.

For drivers who cut through downtown Dade City on US 98 every day, that means a new traffic pattern is now permanent, not temporary. Two roundabouts anchor the project: one at 7th Street South and one at Old Lakeland Highway. The Old Lakeland Highway roundabout actually opened back in December 2024 in a single-lane setup while the surrounding road was still being widened. Now both are running in their final, two-lane configuration.

Ken Woodard has watched the whole thing unfold from close range. He and his wife have owned the Quilted Twins fabric shop, a draw for quilters from around the region, for eight years, and a roundabout now sits right outside their door. Woodard said years of construction disrupted business and traffic alike, and that the finished roundabouts move cars better than the old setup did. But he says plenty of local drivers still aren't sure how to use them.

Woodard told local media outlets he's seen several fender-benders since the roundabouts opened, and more than once has watched a driver enter the circle and head the wrong way, straight into oncoming traffic. He says he'd like the state to do more to explain why the roundabouts were built the way they were, not just how to drive them.

How to actually drive it

FDOT's roundabouts on US 98 are two-lane, which trips people up more than the simpler single-lane version. The agency's guidance is straightforward: pick your lane before you get to the circle, and hold that lane the whole way through. Don't switch lanes once you're inside.

FDOT says its own data shows roundabouts generally improve both traffic flow and safety for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians compared to signalized intersections, and the agency reports no crashes have been logged at the new US 98 roundabouts since they opened. The state has also released a video explaining how to navigate them, part of a broader push as roundabouts become more common on Florida roads.

The bypass project didn't stop at the two roundabouts. New traffic signals went in at Meridian Avenue, 7th Street North and River Road, and the existing signal at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard got upgraded. Sidewalks now run on both sides of the highway for the full stretch of the project, giving pedestrians a safer path along a corridor that used to squeeze foot traffic onto a narrow shoulder.

For now, the adjustment period continues. Woodard's shop sits close enough to one of the roundabouts that he'll likely keep watching drivers work out the pattern in real time, and FDOT has not said whether it plans any additional signage or outreach beyond the video it has already released.

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