One idea to improve bike safety on sections of State Road A1A where there are no road shoulders is to install sharrows, which are already in use in Delray Beach near City Hall. The pavement symbols indicate cyclists may use the full lane. Photo provided
By Charles Elmore
A year that began with a traumatic crash injuring six bicyclists and a driver on State Road A1A in southern Palm Beach County was on track to end with a batch of new safety measures in place, from pavement markings to new road signs.
But a state transportation official is now calling such proposals a “preliminary draft,” with a broader study ongoing for what to do on an iconic coastal roadway that draws all sorts of travelers and residents — but not always consensus between the two.
For example, “sharrows” have been under consideration in Gulf Stream and Manalapan, places that have no A1A shoulders, according to a Florida Department of Transportation presentation to a countywide planning agency in June. Sharrows mean markings on the pavement depicting a bicycle with forward-pointing arrows. The purpose, as state officials describe it, is to remind travelers that bicycles can command the whole lane in such circumstances.
An FDOT spokesman said Aug. 27 that plan was not set in stone and research continues.
“The Florida Department of Transportation is conducting a comprehensive study of bike/pedestrian facilities on State Road A1A in Palm Beach County,” said Guillermo Canedo, spokesman for the agency’s District 4.
Gulf Stream Town Manager Greg Dunham said Sept. 3 that after discussions with FDOT, the town will not be getting sharrows. Dunham said “in lieu of sharrows, the department has decided to place six signs along A1A near the town.”
Such road signs are also being planned in some towns that have unmarked shoulders on both sides, including Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. The signs say, “Share the Road,” and have a bicycle symbol.
During FDOT’s June presentation to the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency governing board, a department design manager, Chris McCurdy, said the sharrows and sign safety features for A1A in South County would be completed in the next six months.
Canedo’s take was different.
“Once the study is completed, the recommendations from the study will inform our decision-making for specific locations along SR A1A where there may be short-term and long-term safety improvements that are viable,” he said.
That study would be completed in October, according to the timeline shown in June.
A Manalapan official said his town had not heard much about what is coming and would like more information.
“We want to make sure everyone’s safe,” said Eric Marmer, assistant town manager for Manalapan.
There has been talk of having transportation officials come to a Manalapan town meeting. The next regularly scheduled one would be Sept. 24, but nothing was arranged as of late August.
Longer-term A1A repaving plans could take five years and involve bicycle and pedestrian safety components in Boca Raton, Highland Beach and Delray Beach, among other places in the county. For example, the project underway in Highland Beach is to include a 5-foot bike lane on each side once it is complete, possibly late in 2025.
The feasibility study that began in March, two months after the accident in Gulf Stream, aims to look at further ways to improve bike and pedestrian safety on the corridor. One of those ways could be to widen A1A shoulders “where feasible.”
Plenty of factors complicate the issue. Residents in some towns have resisted expansion of A1A in the past and questioned the wisdom and safety of encouraging more cycling or other traffic.
Features such as signs and pavement markings might be considered “push button” projects that could be completed with relatively modest planning and cost by year’s end, McCurdy said at the June 20 meeting.
The point of sharrows, for instance, is to “communicate to the traveling public, that’s those behind the dashboard and those on the bicycle, that the bicycle has the ability to command the full width of the lane,” McCurdy said. “The people behind the dashboard recognize the bicycle has the right to be there.”
The pavement markings recur every 250 feet, she said. “That’s constant reminders,” she said.
At that meeting, County Commissioner Marci Woodward of Boca Raton said she liked many elements of the plan but wondered if it risks burdening drivers with so much information that they tune out. Signs or pavement markings would join existing safety features that can include flashing lights.
“It gets to be a lot and I think people go blind to it,” Woodward said. “People are looking at the ocean on A1A when they come to an open area. There’s a lot to look at.”
Her husband recently witnessed a crash on A1A, she said, where a vehicle slowed sharply for a pedestrian crossing but the following driver was caught off guard and it resulted in a rear-end collision.
Getting the balance right could be one the program’s challenges.
“It’s not realistic for drivers to pay attention to 20 signs on a quarter-mile stretch of A1A,” she said.
Steve Plunkett contributed to this story.
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