Commissioners hope for traffic relief

Cones on major road are coming down, but not anytime soon

HALLANDALE BEACH — The good news: Drivers heading east on Hallandale Beach Boulevard won’t have to merge from three lanes into two as they approach Dixie Highway.

The bad news: The cones forcing traffic to merge — called bollards — likely won’t be removed until April, right around the end of tourist season.

Hallandale Beach commissioners agreed Wednesday night to ask the state and county to remove the bollards and left-turn lane approaching the railroad tracks. The request won’t be official until the commission takes a formal vote in February.

A state transportation official told commissioners the bollards and turn lane could be removed as soon as 60 days after the vote.

Vice Mayor Keith London, who led the charge to eliminate the bollards, says they have caused bottlenecks on Hallandale Beach Boulevard, a road so jammed with cars that it’s rated “F” by the Florida Department of Transportation.

On “F”-rated roads, there are frequent stops, each vehicle in lockstep with the one in front of it, creating recurring traffic jams.

Hallandale Beach resident Alexander Cuffia was so frustrated by the gridlock, he started a petition on change.org asking that the cones be removed.

In three weeks, 170 people have signed the online petition.

London argued during Wednesday’s meeting that eliminating the bollards and left-hand turn for eastbound traffic on Hallandale Beach Boulevard would improve traffic flow.

“More than 14,000-plus cars cross that intersection going east and west,” London said. “And about 500 make a left-hand turn.”

A few store owners pleaded with commissioners to keep the left-turn lane, saying it made it easier for customers get to their shops.

“For two months you didn’t have the left turn there. We almost went out of business,” said Daryl Cohen, owner of Lorraine Perfumes Co.

But critics said the cones were causing traffic jams for eastbound commuters forced to merge right before the railroad tracks.

Resident Rodger Skipper predicted traffic will get worse as high-rise developments already approved by the commission are built.

“In the next five years, this whole area will be a parking lot,” Skipper said.

In a nod to the business owners, Mayor Joy Cooper said the cones should stay.

“Hallandale Beach Boulevard may be an F, but it’s not the only F road in Broward or South Florida,” Cooper said. “No matter where you travel in South Florida, there is traffic.”

Cooper said the bollards were installed in 2010 to make it easier for eastbound drivers turning left near Dixie Highway.

“I feel the bollards work,” she said. “It was the best solution to address the traffic. I am opposed to removing them.”

She was overruled in a 4-1 vote.