Cyclists enjoy unfettered access to the new bike lanes on the stretch of State Road A1A through Highland Beach and part of Delray Beach now that traffic-control barrels are gone. The $8.3 million resurfacing and drainage project lasted more than a year but is largely complete, according to state transportation officials. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
The bright orange-and-white barrels that lined State Road A1A through Highland Beach and part of Delray Beach for more than a year are gone, and that’s good news for many bicyclists and a good sign for anyone using the 3.35-mile stretch of beachside highway.
Since July 2024 the barrels, which were put up on the shoulder of the highway to protect construction workers and guide motorists during an $8.3 million resurfacing and drainage project, have been seen as a road hazard for bicyclists like Larry Burgreen.
A snowbird from upstate New York, Burgreen often rode his bike from his home in north Boca Raton to Delray Beach on A1A, but shelved the trip last season and during the past few months due to the construction.
“I wanted to start biking again but the barrels are there,” he said shortly before the barrels were removed, adding that he believed the ride would be unsafe.
Burgreen says he is looking forward to resuming his trips on the barrel-free sides of A1A.
“I am sure I will be trying out the new bike lanes soon,” he said.
Now that the barrels have been removed, bicyclists who rode in the lane of traffic alongside cars, SUVs and other vehicles can now use the newly paved and in some places marked bicycle lanes on either side of the road.
A cyclist navigates traffic while in the new bike lane in Highland Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
The removal of the barrels is also signaling a long-awaited completion of the project, which originally had been proposed to take little more than a year.
The project, according to a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, is scheduled to be completed within a few weeks. But a substantial amount of the work, including most of that which could disrupt traffic flow, is already completed, according to Highland Beach town officials.
In recent weeks, work including pavement markings and installing sod and pavers in driveways has been done, according to the town leaders. A remedial punch-out list of items — and a few more paver installations at driveways — are what primarily remains.
One of the last remaining steps will be a walk-through with Highland Beach and Delray Beach officials, along with FDOT representatives who will point out any “minor details that might have been missed” to the construction contractor.
While the paving of A1A was completed before the start of December, the barrels remained until shortly before Christmas, with bicyclists like Burgreen wondering why they hadn’t been removed.
The answer, according to an FDOT spokesperson, was based on safety concerns for both bicyclists and crews who continued to work in the area.
“The barrels in this area were placed to guide motorists and cyclists through the active work zone and to create a consistent, predictable traffic pattern during construction,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to The Coastal Star.
With completion of the project imminent, Highland Beach is moving forward with two projects: the embedding of lights in the eight pedestrian crosswalks on A1A and the resumption of a sewer lining project.
The sewer lining, which has already been completed on side streets, could cause some minor traffic flow issues, town leaders say, but they likely will be short term.
The embedded lights will augment pedestrian-activated flashing lights at entrances to the crosswalks on both sides of A1A, to go with flags pedestrians may carry for added visibility.
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