WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A construction project that never seems to end is fueling frustrations for drivers in West Palm Beach.
On Roebuck Road, traffic cones line the street and traffic patterns have changed due to construction, which is leaving some drivers concerned and irritated.
“Chaotic and dangerous...and eventually the way they are going it’s going to be deadly, and I don’t want to see that happen,” said Mike Brauchle, who drives the road every day.
Brauchle says he has contacted the Palm Beach County Traffic Division after witnessing a number of crashes.
Drivers can no longer make a left turn onto Roebuck Road from the Paradise Place Shopping Center near the Dunkin Donuts, and a median in the middle of the road is now blocking off the intersection.
“People come flying through here and try to go straight, wipe out the bottom of their car and blow their airbags,” Brauchle said.
A stop sign is partially covered by a pole and the right turn only sign is completely blocked by a wall. One driver says he almost crashed around the curve on Roebuck, where it turns into Jog Road because it’s hard to see the lanes, especially at night.
“They change the signs, people get used to one way and before you know it next day they’re different, so that’s confusing,” Pat said.
The Palm Beach County Traffic Department told WPTV the construction started two years ago to widen the road to four lanes, add sidewalks and drainage, and to improve the intersection at Roebuck and Haverhill. But Brauchle says there needs to be better signage with these changes.
“Eventually something is going to happen at the wrong time of day someone is going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s not going to be pretty,” Brauchle said.
The county said drivers can no longer turn left outside the shopping center because it’s too close to the intersection at Haverhill where a new turn lane is being built.
Construction is expected to be wrapped up by the end of April, and the county said it will look into making the right turn only sign more visible.