Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Road worrier
Our Dr. Detour guides you along S. Florida’s roads.
Q: I am writing to inquire about the Interstate 75 interchange with the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike. Are there any target dates for completion of the ramps between southbound I-75 and the northbound turnpike or the southbound turnpike to northbound I-75? Manny Munoz, Pembroke Pines.
A: They could be open to traffic sometime late this year or in early 2019.
Construction continues on these two ramps and four other connections on this interchange. They include southbound turnpike to southbound I-75 and Miami Gardens Drive, southbound turnpike to northbound I-75 express lanes, northbound I-75 to northbound turnpike, and Miami Gardens Drive to northbound turnpike.
A separate project will extend the I-75 express lanes from south of Miami Gardens Drive to the Palmetto Expressway late this year.
Q: Are there any studies that support the length and timing of stop lights? It seems they are very long here in South Florida. Drivers get distracted with longer stop times and traffic is backed up sometimes through another intersectionn causing it to be blocked. Why are they timed so long? Jim Mellet, Fort Lauderdale.
A: Nobody likes red lights but signal timing can be affected by the amount of traffic, camera sensors, the time of day, collisions, construction, school zones, railroad crossings, bridge openings, emergency vehicles and drivers going too
fast or too slow.
Some South Florida roads are just too congested for synchronization to work 100 percent of the time, according to traffic engineers.
Analog signals were converted to digital technology years ago allowing more than 1,000 intersections in Broward County to be monitored and controlled remotely. A 2011 analysis of several major intersections showed travel times were about 43 percent faster and drivers got about 32 percent fewer red lights as a result.
As for blocked intersections, that problem can be solved by paying attention and not creeping through a clogged intersection even if you have a green light.