The Atlantic Avenue and I-95 interchange in Delray Beach will soon be under construction. The Florida Department of Transportation will be addinga new on-ramp to I-95 from westbound Atlantic Avenue.
FDOT says it will create a new segregated exclusive lane that will help with congestion while getting onto I-95. The exit ramp will be separated by a barrier so cars cannot change lanes at the last minute.
“It will force people to make a decision sooner, so they have to commit the direction they want to go,” said I-95 project spokesperson Andrea Pacini.
The project will also add bike lanes along the north side of Atlantic. The new bike lanes design has some people concerned about safety.
“Nobody is going to ride their bike on this road, and feel safe,” said Bruce Bastian with Human Powered Delray.
Bastian is concerned that at certain points, the bike lanes mesh with traffic.
FDOT said that it had to use sharrows in the design. “A sharrow is a double-chevron road marking indicating a shared cycle/vehicle lane. It warns motorists that this is an important cycle route, and it encourages cyclists to use more of the lane. A sharrow is used when there is not enough room for a dedicated cycle lane,” said Pacini.
“We have been doing this for five years, they did get community input, they didn’t listen,” said Jim Chard, also with Human Powered Delray.
Both men would like to see a better design where the bike lanes can stay and mesh with the sidewalk instead of traffic.
The city and FDOT are supposed to be meeting to discuss the project in the next few weeks. There is an open house on August 30th and construction is set to begin in September.
