Road and drainage construction along A1A creates a traffic nightmare during work hours. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
Major construction and long daytime delays on State Road A1A, already frustrating local motorists, are certain to shock returning seasonal residents unaware of the extensive resurfacing and widening project on the coastal highway.
A yearlong, $8.3 million Florida Department of Transportation road project that began in July is causing traffic delays, and leaders in Highland Beach — where the bulk of the work is ongoing — fear the backups will get worse with more traffic on the road.
“We feel like it is going to be a busy season,” said Town Manager Marshall Labadie. “As much as we’ve been communicating, I’m afraid our seasonal residents aren’t aware of the disruptions the construction will cause to their daily travels.”
To try to make residents more aware, the town has stepped up its communication efforts.
“We’re sending emails every week telling residents to plan accordingly as their travel plans will be disrupted,” Labadie said.
The 3.35-mile-long project, from just south of Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach to the Highland Beach border with Boca Raton, includes road resurfacing, the creation of 5-foot bike lanes on either side of A1A and drainage improvements on the swales.
The project is expected to be finished by summer. Contractors are permitted to operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and as a result have been working on some Saturdays.
Crews using solar-powered “automated flagger assistance devices” — traffic lights on wheels — as well as traditional walkie-talkie flagmen and women, have been shepherding traffic into one lane while work continues on drainage improvements and widening.
Navigating State Road A1A is challenging for pedestrians and bicyclists — not to mention motorists — during construction in Highland Beach. On Oct. 25, this southbound backup stretched for blocks as drivers waited to traverse a section of A1A that had been reduced to a single lane. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Working generally from north to south — currently between Linton Boulevard and the 3300 block of South Ocean Boulevard — crews have begun laying the groundwork for widening A1A to accommodate bike lanes.
At the same time, an infiltrated rock system is being placed under grassy areas to improve drainage and reduce flooding.
Drainage improvements are also being made through the central part of town and those are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
As the work has progressed, the impact on traffic has increased.
“It’s more of a problem now than it was during the beginning phases of the project because the heavy lifting is the more disruptive part of the project,” Labadie said.
Residents like Deborah Muller, who lives in the north end of Highland Beach, agree.
“It was manageable during the summer. Now it’s absolutely insane,” she said.
Town leaders and some local residents are looking forward to having construction completed just south of Linton Boulevard, where plans call for almost tripling the length of the left-turn lane for northbound cars heading west over the bridge, from 75 feet to about 200 feet.
FDOT expects initial milling and resurfacing work in that area to begin in December and continue through early 2025. The final pavement and striping will take place in the project’s last phase during the summer of 2025, weather permitting and subject to unforeseen circumstances.
The expansion of the northbound turn lane onto Linton Boulevard means fewer cars will block traffic heading north through the intersection, town representatives say.
“That area has historically been a huge bottleneck,” Labadie said. “As painful as it’s going to be, we’re glad they’re working on it.”
Muller and other residents say they have complained regularly about northbound traffic backups of more than a half-mile from the light at Linton Boulevard and A1A.
“It’s hard to get in and out of your driveway,” she said, adding that often northbound motorists fail to stop when they see a car trying to pull out or turn in. “Now I have to be aggressive.”
Muller said that if people were more considerate, traffic would flow a little better.
She says she is sometimes frustrated by what she says is rudeness, and believes that fixing the intersection will improve traffic.
“It will definitely be better, especially if you’re making a left onto Linton Boulevard,” she said.
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