I-95 construction going to frustrate for years to come

You might want to just avoid Interstate 95 in southern Palm Beach County for the next decade.

Construction is going to make it a mess for the next 10 years, but planners believe your drive will get better after that. Really.

The Florida Department of Transportation plans to overhaul five interchanges in a 12-mile stretch from Boynton Beach to Lake Worth: Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach Boulevard, Gateway Boulevlard, Lantana Road and 10th Avenue North.

That’s five of the seven exits in that 12-mile stretch.

As many as three of those exits could be revamped into unconventional, yet increasingly popular new formations — a “diverging diamond.” A weaving, diamond-shaped pattern, the interchange briefly sends drivers onto the opposite side of the road to allow for safer and easier left-hand turns to and from I-95.

The busy Glades Road interchange in Boca Raton is currently being transformed into a diverging diamond, making it the first of its kind in Palm Beach County. Construction is projected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Among the goals of the projects are to reduce congestion on I-95, lessen traffic spillback from the exits and accommodate future traffic demand. However, the biggest goal for Nick Uhren, executive director for the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, is to improve safety conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists at these busy interchanges.

While the FDOT is in charge of I-95, they need the Palm Beach planning agency to sign off on any plans. Uhren said much of the back and forth in the planning process has centered around updating these intersections and making them as safe as possible.

“Moving cars is important, but so is protecting bicycles and pedestrians,” Uhren said. “My No. 1 priority for all these interstate projects is that they are constructed with that balance in mind. That we protect the vulnerable users as our first priority. And then we provide that safe and efficient opportunity to get on and off of the interstate corridor as our second priority.

“Historically, we’ve done it in reverse . ... We need to do better than that. Part of our challenge is to do better as we move forward.”

Improving safety conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists means fewer accidents — and fewer traffic delays at those intersections. According to the FDOT, the planned interchange at Glades Road is projected to reduce crashes by a third.

Of the five projects in the works, construction plans have been completed for Gateway Boulevard and Boynton Beach Boulevard. Construction crews will widen and resurface those interchanges, which will cost $75 million. Construction on Gateway Boulevard is projected to begin in 2022 and be completed in 2025, while Boynton Beach Boulevard will begin in 2024 and wrap up in 2026.

Construction on the Lantana Road interchange, which will likely be a diverging diamond, could begin in 2025. Project engineers are still evaluating road studies on Woolbright Road and 10th Avenue North, but diverging diamond interchanges are being considered for both.

Construction on most of these projects usually takes two to three years.

While they may seem unusual at first, diverging diamond interchanges are becoming a favorite new tool for project engineers. The first diverging diamond interchange opened in 2009 in Springfield, Missouri. Since then, over 100 have been created across the country and many more are being planned, according to the Institute for Transportation Research and Education.

The crossings made their first South Florida appearances in MiamiDade County, opening along the expressway authority’s Dolphin Expressway at Northwest 27th Avenue, as well as at Northwest 57th Avenue, on the southern edge of Miami International Airport.

Boca Raton’s diamond interchange will send westbound drivers over to the left side of the road while going over the I-95 bridge. They’ll have the choice to get on I-95 north or south, or stay on Glades. The lane then will switch back to the right side of the road.