New shortcut to get to Fort Lauderdale beach? A $55 million bypass road is planned.

If you’re fed up with traffic near Port Everglades, here’s some good news: Construction starts this week for a new road that will gives drivers one more way to get from U.S. 1 to Southeast 17th Street, on their way toward Fort Lauderdale beach.

Broward’s new Port Everglades Bypass Road will be about a mile long and costs about $55 million.

The goal will be to give drivers easier access from the airport toward Southeast 17th Street, which often is used by drivers to head east toward State Road A1A, which then runs north along the city’s beach side. The bypass road also will allow people to skip the security at Port Everglades when that isn’t the intended destination.

“When it’s all said and done, it will change the landscape of this county,” said County Administrator Monica Cepero, speaking at a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday.

Steven Braun, the district secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation , called the plan to improve traffic times and ease traffic flow a “quality-of-life” issue. The agency has assisted in the funding.

The Port Everglades Bypass Road will have one lane in each direction and runs along Spangler Boulevard/east State Road 84 from east of U.S. 1 to Eisenhower Boulevard. It then turns north along Eisenhower Boulevard to Southeast 20th Street, all within Port Everglades.

A section of 1,300 feet will be elevated by 36 feet at a bridge’s highest point for cars.

Residents said they have been advocating for the bypass road for years. Traffic on Southeast 17th Street “is impassable at times,” said Harbordale resident Marilyn Mammano.

The bypass road completion is being timed to two major county projects so there can be a direct connection and alternative route to both: Omni Hotels and Resorts, the operator of the planned 801-room convention center hotel, is expected to open late 2025.

That’s also the timeline for the grand opening of the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, where the expansion is still under construction. It will ultimately include a waterfront ballroom facing the Intracoastal Waterway and a 6-acre outdoor waterfront plaza.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com . Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash