By Rich Pollack
Engineers and others from the Florida Department of Transportation came to Highland Beach in late August to field questions about a repaving project on State Road A1A that is expected to cause major traffic disruptions from spring 2024 until well into 2025.
With plans not fully developed at the time, the FDOT team pledged to return to share the latest information with residents who will be impacted by the $8.8 million project that will stretch from just south of Linton Boulevard to the Boca Raton border with Highland Beach.
Now the FDOT is inviting residents to a public open house of sorts, set for 6 to 8 p.m. March 13 at the town’s library, where plans for the project will be on display.
This time, however, the format will be quite different, with no formal presentation and no questions directed to a panel of engineers, landscape architects and others. Instead, FDOT representatives will have as many as a half-dozen illustrations of project designs placed throughout the room with a representative at each board available to answer concerns.
“It’s more of a hands-on approach,” said Brad Salisbury, an FDOT project manager. “Residents can come in and look at the plans and ask questions one on one.”
Salisbury said that the team responsible for the project did listen to some of the recommendations that came out of the August meeting, which included Highland Beach residents and town officials as well as some residents from southern Delray Beach.
“We did try and look at all the suggestions and see what merit they had,” he said. “Some are being incorporated.”
In addition to resurfacing the more than 3 miles of A1A, the project will include widening the road to incorporate 5-foot bike lanes on either side of the road.
It will also include drainage improvements that Salisbury said will include digging out swales and putting in rocks and other materials to make it easier for water to percolate through.
Both those elements of the project are likely to affect landscaping currently in the FDOT right of way. Its engineers and landscape architects said efforts will be made to move as many trees as possible but not shrubs. The biggest concern the project is generating is about traffic disruptions, which are unavoidable during roadwork that is expected to start in May 2024 and run for about 18 months.
To help minimize the disruption, the FDOT will place signs at each end of the town aimed at limiting non-local traffic and encouraging drivers to seek alternate routes whenever possible.
The FDOT will also be limiting the length of lane closures to 1,000 feet during the daytime and 2,500 feet at night.
“A lot of resurfacing can be done at night,” Salisbury said.
He said he’s hoping residents with concerns will make an effort to come to the meeting but he’s also open to answering questions from residents by email. He can be reached at brad.salisbury@dot.state.fl.us.
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