By Mary Hladky
Completion of major work on the Diverging Diamond Interchange at Glades Road and Interstate 95 was briefly delayed but expected to be finished on April 3.
The Florida Department of Transportation had intended to close the interchange — including traffic on Glades Road at I-95 — March 24 through March 27 to complete its configuration. Instead, the closures were pushed back to March 31 to April 3, which is after The Coastal Star’s deadline for this edition. The bulk of the project was forecast to be completed the morning of April 3.
“The unforeseen delay is due to an issue with material procurement necessary to complete the weekend operation,” said project spokesperson Andrea Pacini Baynham.
The final work involved the completion of a fourth lane in each direction to allow traffic to move more quickly on Glades Road through the interchange and improve safety, officials said.
The project won’t be completely finished until May 1, though. Still to be done are the removal of old ramps and creation of drainage ponds, which will be graded and sodded.
The FDOT and Boca Raton have worked together to synchronize the interchange’s traffic signals to further alleviate delays and congestion.
The state and the city have five cameras on the project, which allows them to make tweaks as they go. Aurelio Matos, the FDOT senior project engineer for the interchange, said there have been no issues with people driving in the wrong direction.
The project was launched in March 2021. The new interchange opened in “temporary condition” on Jan. 30. But without all the planned lanes open, and with light synchronization issues still being ironed out, drivers on Glades Road faced sporadic backups over the past two months.
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