Letters

    Atlantic Crossing’s approval sets the stage for a once-in-a-generation redevelopment opportunity — a responsibility the team takes seriously.
After several trips back to the drawing board and tremendous community input, we’re ready to move forward. While it has been a challenging process, community collaboration has made it a better plan in the end.  
    The Coastal Star’s February story focused largely on the controversy around access to the site. It’s important readers have the facts. We understand the importance of traffic management and the team has planned every aspect of the project to get it right, most recently adding Federal Highway ingress and egress.  
    Readers should know there are good reasons why Atlantic Crossing opted for a Federal Highway entrance into the garage, rather than a surface street through to Seventh Avenue. The best way to reduce traffic delays is to get vehicles quickly and directly to and from parking. The professional team analyzed the through-street option and found it had the potential to cause, rather than reduce, congestion. That’s because it would lead vehicles to a central intersection, instead of directly to the public parking.
    Having a through road would also significantly reduce the number of parking spaces and the pedestrian open space and walkability that are key to the plan.  
    Atlantic Crossing has been designed from the start to be a part of — not apart from — the downtown.  We’ll continue to work hard to bring Atlantic Crossing’s economic benefits to the city and to make it a welcome addition to Delray.
Bill Morris
For the Atlantic Crossing Team