People who live and work near the intersection of Fern Street and Quadrille Boulevard say enough is enough, they want something to change when it comes to safety measures.
“Crossing the street I don’t really think about whether I’m on the state part or the city part, I want to be safe,” said Barry O’Brien.
Residents said they have been raising safety concerns for years about the intersection to the City of West Palm Beach and haven't been able to get a direct response.
“I’ve seen a lot of near misses, I’ve seen accidents, I’ve seen roll-overs,” said O’Brien.
Now more than ever, with all the recent growth and development in the area, many feel a traffic signal is the answer to help with the increase in pedestrians and drivers.
“Yea, we were told years ago they were going to put a light in here,” said O'Brien.
So NewsChannel 5 reached out to the city to find out what’s the hold-up. We learned it’s a state road, managed by FDOT, but actually, Brightline’s responsibility, not the city's, to install a safety signal.
So NewsChannel 5 reached out to FDOT. A spokesperson there said Brightline has been approved for a permit with a deadline of April 2019.
According to the city, Brightline’s developer said although the original deadline was Fall of 2018, there’s a delay because of delivery issues for the mast arm, which is back ordered due to Hurricane Michael.
“There’s always an excuse, everybody’s got a reason to have the other one worry about it,” said O’Brien.
A spokesperson for WPB said the Brightline station off Fern and Quadrille is currently running on a temporary permit and won’t get a final certificate of occupancy until a signal is installed.