The interchange opened Jan. 30 amid traffic barrels likely to remain to some degree until May. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Related: Last-minute push readies interchange
By Steve Plunkett
State transportation officials urge motorists to do three things to navigate the new Diverging Diamond Interchange at Glades Road and Interstate 95:
Slow down as you approach the interchange from either highway.
Follow the markings on the pavement and the signs and signals overhead.
Do not depend on a GPS for up-to-date directions.
“I wouldn’t rely on the GPS. It’s definitely not going to work at least for the first week or two,” said Ariam Galindo, senior project manager for the Florida Department of Transportation.
The Boca Raton interchange, the first of its kind in Palm Beach County, allows the two directions of traffic on Glades Road to temporarily cross to the opposite side of the roadway, which lets drivers turn left onto the interstate with no oncoming traffic.
It was scheduled to open at 6 a.m. Jan. 30, but rain fell overnight and workers had to wait to let the asphalt dry before placing final adhesive road markers and to fine-tune the timing of traffic signals.
Vehicles finally cruised the new configuration about 3:15 p.m. at speeds the FDOT found troublesome.
“Reminder: The speed limit is 35 mph” through the interchange, it said via Facebook and Twitter at 10 a.m. the next day. “FDOT is working with the (city) to optimize signal timing so that traffic can flow as smoothly as possible.”
Navigating the new interchange is “easy,” project spokeswoman Andi Pacini said.
“When driving straight through the new interchange, go through the first traffic light, staying in the lane that you’re in. The lane will guide you to the opposite side of the road. And before the lane crosses back to the right side of the road, you will encounter that one other traffic signal on the other side,” she said.
“If you’d like to take the right turn onto the I-95 entrance ramp, use the right- turn lane just like you do now.
“And then, when turning left into the I-95 entrance ramp, stay in the left lane and just follow that lane through the first traffic light to the other side of the road. And then before getting to the second traffic light, you would turn left onto the entrance ramp,” she said.
An FDOT video that gives a behind-the-steering-wheel view of the new lane pattern is at www.d4fdot.com/pbfdot/glades_road_diverging_diamond_interchange.asp
The new interchange sports a separate pedestrian bridge over I-95 in the median of Glades Road, shorter pedestrian crosswalks with flashing lights at the I-95 ramps, 7-foot bike lanes each way, 18 new signal mast arms and five new overhead sign structures.
Cameras help synchronize the interchange’s traffic signals to “facilitate the smooth crossing of traffic, alleviate traffic delays and congestion … and reduce crashes at the interchange,” the FDOT said.
“We’ll have eyes on it around the clock,” Pacini said.
Traffic signals at a diverging roadway operate with fewer signal cycles. The new-style interchange also reduces the number of “conflict points,” where drivers see oncoming traffic, from 26 to 14.
Yamila Hernandez, a consulting engineer on the project, said state and city transportation officials are working together to fine-tune how quickly the lights change.
“The signal phasing is going to be probably a trouble-shooting exercise as we progress,” she said. “We’re going to be monitoring traffic and verifying how everything works and we can tweak it as we go along.”
The interchange is prepared if a hurricane knocks out electricity. Backup generators on automatic transfer switches were installed at the interchange to power the traffic signals in case of any outage.
Although the diverging interchange is open, construction is not completed, the FDOT said. A fourth lane in each direction on Glades Road will be opened once additional work is done, and a final layer of asphalt, which will result in a smoother road surface, still needs to be placed. Finally, the construction area around the entrance and exit ramps will remain cluttered until May.
Work started in March 2021 on the new interchange. The overall project, which includes express toll lanes from south of Glades Road to south of Linton Boulevard, is set to end this year at a cost of $148 million.
Florida opened its first Diverging Diamond Interchange in Sarasota in 2009. “We’re a little late to the party,” Pacini said.
Future diverging interchanges are planned for I-95 interchanges at Lantana and Hypoluxo roads.
Comments