diverging diamond - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T05:51:50Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/diverging+diamondBoca Raton: End date for I-95’s new interchange delayed for a weekhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-end-date-for-i-95-s-new-interchange-delayed-for-a-week2023-03-29T14:14:28.000Z2023-03-29T14:14:28.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>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.<br />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.<br />“The unforeseen delay is due to an issue with material procurement necessary to complete the weekend operation,” said project spokesperson Andrea Pacini Baynham.<br />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.<br />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.<br />The FDOT and Boca Raton have worked together to synchronize the interchange’s traffic signals to further alleviate delays and congestion.<br />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.<br />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. </p></div>Boca Raton: Glades Road/I-95 interchange is speeding to completionhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-glades-road-i-95-interchange-is-speeding-to-completion2023-03-03T17:48:59.000Z2023-03-03T17:48:59.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p class="Body"><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Major construction on the new Diverging Diamond Interchange at Glades Road and Interstate 95 will wrap up ahead of schedule.</p>
<p>A fourth lane in each direction on Glades Road will be completed by March 31, state transportation officials told Boca Raton residents on March 2, ahead of the previously announced May 1 completion date. The roadway also will be paved and striped by then.</p>
<p>“We are working as quickly as possible to get the fourth lane open,” Aurelio Matos, Florida Department of Transportation senior project engineer for the interchange, told residents at a town hall meeting hosted by Mayor Scott Singer. “By the end of the month, we will have the final configuration.”</p>
<p>The fourth lanes will allow traffic to move more quickly through the interchange and improve safety, officials said.</p>
<p>That was welcome news to residents. One complained it took him 23 minutes to navigate the interchange in one direction and nearly 20 minutes in the other.</p>
<p>The project won’t be completely finished until May 1 though. Still to be completed are the removal of old ramps and creation of drainage ponds, which will be graded and sodded.</p>
<p>Work is continuing to synchronize the interchange’s traffic signals to further alleviate delays and congestion.</p>
<p>The FDOT and the city have five cameras on the project, which allows them to make tweaks as they go. Matos said there have been no issues with people driving in the wrong direction.</p>
<p class="Body">The project was launched in March 2021. The new interchange opened in “temporary condition” on Jan. 30. </p></div>Boca Raton: Last-minute push readies interchangehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-last-minute-push-readies-interchange2023-02-01T16:50:42.000Z2023-02-01T16:50:42.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10952701698,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10952701698,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10952701698?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The components that make up the traffic signal controller cabinet for the interchange were visible as adjustments were made on the opening day of use.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10952702097,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10952702097,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10952702097?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>The intersection is in the flight path for planes landing at Boca Raton Airport.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10952703072,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10952703072,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10952703072?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><em>FDOT employees and contractors wave to other workers while using the covered walkway that runs through the middle of the overpass. </em></p>
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<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-new-glades-interchange-puts-motorists-on-other-side-of?edited=1"><strong>New Glades interchange puts motorists on other side of road</strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><br /> <strong><em>Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em></strong></p></div>Boca Raton: New Glades interchange puts motorists on other side of roadhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-new-glades-interchange-puts-motorists-on-other-side-of2023-02-01T16:46:43.000Z2023-02-01T16:46:43.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10952698857,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10952698857,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10952698857?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></strong><em>The interchange opened Jan. 30 amid traffic barrels likely to remain to some degree until May.</em><strong><em> Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star</em> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Related: </strong><a href="https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-last-minute-push-readies-interchange"><strong>Last-minute push readies interchange</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>State transportation officials urge motorists to do three things to navigate the new Diverging Diamond Interchange at Glades Road and Interstate 95:<br /> Slow down as you approach the interchange from either highway.<br /> Follow the markings on the pavement and the signs and signals overhead.<br /> Do not depend on a GPS for up-to-date directions.<br /> “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.<br /> 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. <br /> 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.<br /> Vehicles finally cruised the new configuration about 3:15 p.m. at speeds the FDOT found troublesome.<br /> “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.”<br /> Navigating the new interchange is “easy,” project spokeswoman Andi Pacini said.<br /> “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.<br /> “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.<br /> “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.</p>
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<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10960682095,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10960682095,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10960682095?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>An FDOT video that gives a behind-the-steering-wheel view of the new lane pattern is at <a href="http://www.d4fdot.com/pbfdot/glades_road_diverging_diamond_interchange.asp">www.d4fdot.com/pbfdot/glades_road_diverging_diamond_interchange.asp</a><br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> “We’ll have eyes on it around the clock,” Pacini said.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> “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.”<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> 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.<br /> Florida opened its first Diverging Diamond Interchange in Sarasota in 2009. “We’re a little late to the party,” Pacini said.<br /> Future diverging interchanges are planned for I-95 interchanges at Lantana and Hypoluxo roads.</p>
<p> </p></div>Boca Raton: Construction on I-95 express lanes to start next year; Glades interchange nexthttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-construction-on-i-95-express-lanes-to-start-next-year-2019-10-02T16:23:59.000Z2019-10-02T16:23:59.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960901470,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960901470,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960901470?profile=original" /></a></p>
<p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>The next phase of Interstate 95 construction in south Palm Beach County will begin early next year, with the work covering the span from just south of Glades Road to south of Linton Boulevard.<br />The $148 million project includes the addition of two northbound and two southbound express lanes, and the complete redesign of the Glades Road interchange.<br />The Florida Department of Transportation is planning a “construction open house” to provide more information to the public in January at Boca Raton’s Spanish River Library, Andi Pacini, a spokeswoman for the project, told Boca Raton City Council members on Sept. 23. A firm date is not yet set.<br />The roadwork will take more than three years, with completion expected in 2023.<br />After the express lanes are added, I-95 will have four regular northbound and southbound lanes. Drivers will be able to use the express lanes for travel all the way south to Miami and north to Linton Boulevard. <br />Motorists will use SunPass to pay express lane tolls, which will vary depending on the time of day and congestion.<br />A date for construction to begin on the Glades Road interchange has not yet been set.<br />The contractor for the work, Prince Contracting, will use a new “diverging diamond” design for the interchange. The design already has been used for an interchange in Sarasota and two interchanges in Miami-Dade County.<br />Drivers should have no problem navigating the new design, officials told council members.<br />The portion of the interchange that runs east and west over I-95 will include a bicycle lane and a 10-foot-wide pedestrian walkway.<br />The project will begin as work wraps up on the stretch of I-95 running from just south of Glades Road to south of Southwest 10th Street in Deerfield Beach.</p></div>