Letters

     There has been much discussion about the makeover of the massive Atlantic Crossing project. But improved as it may be, it would be a colossal mistake for Delray Beach to approve Atlantic Crossing’s current design — a traffic disaster in the making.
    On Jan. 7, Delray’s City Commission will vote: either for its residents by requiring clear and reasonable traffic fixes, or for the developers of Atlantic Crossing by approving the project as is.
    At that meeting, the City Commission will hear appeals from organized, committed residents of the barrier island, the Marina Historic District, Palm Trail Association, Barr Terrace condominium community and North Palm Trail. Importantly, the appeals present the developer and the city a solution: a short list of specific and reasonable traffic-improving measures that would allow the project to proceed.
    The appeals are only needed because city staff have made no effort to evaluate the real impact of the enormous volume of additional traffic the project’s restaurants, retail, office space and new residences will generate. By even the most conservative estimates, traffic volume will more than double to over 10,000 trips per day.
    The developer was not required to do a full traffic study because Atlantic Crossing is in a traffic concurrency exception area, a special status that encourages development. But the city neglected a duty to its residents when it failed to conduct any study of its own, even in the face of unique factors including the drawbridge, an historic neighborhood and several other approved downtown projects.
    Residents and civic groups were forced to raise money for their own traffic study, coordinated by the Florida Coalition for Preservation, to assess the true impact.
    Common sense told residents that the additional traffic from Atlantic Crossing could overwhelm Atlantic Avenue and force overflow traffic into the surrounding neighborhoods — and the study has confirmed residents’ worst fears. During peak traffic hours, the operating capacity on Atlantic Avenue will drop to level F (as in “Fail”) and the ensuing gridlock will force frustrated drivers to find shortcuts through neighborhoods.
    Atlantic Avenue is also a designated evacuation route for the barrier island, and the route to the hospital from the barrier island and the other eastern neighborhoods served by Fire Station No. 2 off North Andrews Avenue. Bridge openings during peak hours already cause extensive backups and delays — and the proposed main entrance to Atlantic Crossing is 650 feet from the drawbridge.  
    Forced to act where the city has failed, residents have distilled their appeals to a few key tactics. One in particular will help move traffic off of Atlantic Avenue: a surface road into and out of the project between Federal Highway and Seventh Avenue, in addition to an entry/exit directly into the underground parking garage. This road — approved by the city in a previous version of the site plan — is well within the developer’s capabilities.
    The resident-funded traffic study is credible evidence that Atlantic Crossing as it stands today will have a profoundly negative (and irreversible) impact on the traffic flow on Atlantic Avenue, as well as on the safety and quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods.
    There are good, rational solutions for the city and the developer, and they must work together now to make Atlantic Crossing work for the entire city.
— Kelly and Jack Barrette,
barrier island residents