Crashes prompt changes

Signs will alert drivers to speed changes, turns

There may be no Interstate 95 interchange in Palm Beach County as confusing as the I-95 off-ramp at Congress Avenue, a state official says.

It’s where a tractortrailer in August rammed through a concrete barrier, stunning early morning commuters who saw it dangling from the overpass. Now, a series of crashes there in recent years has prompted the Florida Department of Transportation to make safety adjustments.

“That’s kind of a confusing area,” said Chuck McGinness, a spokesman for FDOT. “I don’t think we have any other interchanges like that in Palm Beach County that have that particular design.”

The department will add 5 mph signs after the 30 mph signs currently posted to wane drivers off from the interstate speeds.

A large, bright green arrow pointing right also will give drivers a heads-up before the turn.

McGinness said the department took an inventory of crashes and found that they boil down to one main cause: Drivers barrel through the southbound ramp. Vehicles have about a half-mile from I-95 to slow down before stopping at a stop light or being forced to turn right on Peninsula Corp Drive.

Drivers who plow through the stop light risk falling off the overpass into the Tri-Rail tracks below, like a tractor-trailer nearly did in August’s crash. The truck skid through the intersection, went through a concrete barrier and was left dangling from the overpass.

McGinness said drivers often don’t slow down enough to make the right turn off the intersection. That was the case in at least six major accidents that happened in the past five years.

Some of those drivers even told police they thought they were still on the highway, McGinness said.

The most recent accident last week also involved a tractor-trailer that ran through the intersection and hit a barrier. While the truck didn’t hang from the overpass, the crash shut down the intersection for several hours.

While no signs have been installed yet, McGinness said they’ll be up by the summer.

“Safety is our priority here at FDOT and if there is anything we can do where people think there is a problem, we will certainly review it,” McGinness said.

“Safety is our priority here at FDOT and if there is anything we can do where people think there is a problem, we will certainly review it.” Chuck McGinness, FDOT spokesman