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Protective bike lanes coming to West Palm Beach road

Posted at 11:08 PM, May 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-27 03:25:39-04

West Palm Beach is about become a safer for bike riders in a first for Palm Beach County.

This week, city leaders approved $1.1 million to add protected bike lanes to a 1.17-mile stretch of road.

It runs on Cumberland Road from Military Trail to Village Boulevard, near the Ball Park of the Palm Beaches.

One of the reasons why: City leaders say drivers often exceed the 30 mph speed limit there. This would give bike riders an extra layer of safety.

"There's nothing like that around here," says Mike Jenison, manager of Bike America in West Palm Beach. "Biking is definitely growing every year also the traffic is growing also so there's less and less areas for people to ride on on the street."

A Dutch-style roundabout will be built at the Cumberland-Saratoga intersection, cars on an inner loop and bikes on the outer.

"It's going to help people feel better about going out and riding, getting their exercise in without the worry of getting hit by a car," Jenison says.

Construction will start in November.