One segment of the 1.3-mile project would reduce the number of traffic lanes from three to two, allowing for more space for bikes and for a wider sidewalk and landscaping.
Rendering provided
Barriers to protect cyclists may not be possible, but compromise is
By Mary Hladky
The Florida Department of Transportation plans to add bicycle lanes to a 1.3-mile section of Federal Highway in Boca Raton from Camino Real to Northeast Mizner Boulevard, but at least two City Council members aren’t satisfied.
At issue is that the FDOT is proposing buffered bike lanes, with bike and vehicle lanes separated by a 2-foot striped buffer.
The city’s bike advocates have long sought protective barriers instead of buffers to better safeguard cyclists, and Deputy Mayor Yvette Drucker and Council member Fran Nachlas told FDOT officials at a Sept. 9 meeting that they too want barriers.
“A bike lane is not a bike lane if it is not protected. We have been trying to move to that,” Drucker said. “Let’s do it right the first time.”
FDOT officials said they also prefer protected bike lanes. But the relatively narrow width of that section of Federal Highway downtown leaves too little room to build them without substantially increasing the project’s size and cost.
Some sort of middle ground may be found, said Nathan George, the city’s transportation, mobility and connectivity director.
He said city staffers are looking at options such as thick tubular markers and flexible posts often seen in protected bike lanes.
There’s time to find a solution. The FDOT will hold a meeting where the public can weigh in during the first quarter of next year. The road’s new design is scheduled for completion in December 2025, with construction beginning in the winter of 2026.
As it stands now, the state has proposed dividing the project area into three sections.
Between Camino Real and Southeast Mizner Boulevard, three vehicle travel lanes in each direction would be reduced to two to make way for 5-foot bike lanes on both sides of the highway, a wider sidewalk and a landscaped area between the street and sidewalk. Concrete pavers would be placed at intersections.
The section between Southeast Mizner Boulevard and Northeast Second Street would maintain two vehicle lanes in both directions, but the center median would be narrowed and the width of one lane in each direction would be reduced by 1 foot to add 4-foot bike lanes.
The section between Northeast Second Street and Northeast Mizner Boulevard also would maintain two vehicle lanes in both directions with no reduction in width. But the center median would be narrowed to allow for 4-foot bike lanes.
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