Cypress Creek Road interchange could get elevated ramps to I-95

The state has released plans to fix the Cypress Creek Road interchange at Interstate 95, a notorious bottleneck because of its proximity to Andrews Avenue and the Tri-Rail tracks.

The Florida Department of Transportation is proposing makeovers for all of Broward’s I-95 interchanges, the first major revamp in 30 years in order to improve traffic flow and reduce crashes. Plans for Cypress Creek are the latest to be revealed, with plans still in the works for the Sunrise Boulevard and Davie Boulevard exits.

Cypress Creek is a particular problem since traffic headed to southbound I-95 frequently backs up on to the tracks. But backups can occur in the other direction of Cypress Creek, too. In 1993, six people were killed when an Amtrak train slammed into a gasoline tanker that was trapped on the tracks in the westbound lanes.

The biggest improvement calls for building a pair of elevated ramps. One would rise above Cypress Creek Road and the Tri-Rail tracks, the other above Andrews Avenue.

The ramps would allow eastbound Cypress Creek and southbound Andrews traf- fic headed to southbound I-95 to bypass and travel over the intersections of Andrews and Cypress Creek, and Andrews and Northwest 60th Street.

Here’s what else is being proposed for the interchange:

Combined southbound on-ramps from Andrews Avenue and the park-and-ride lot into one ramp, with a bridge over the southbound off-ramp to Commercial Boulevard.

Combined northbound off-ramps to westbound Cypress Creek and Atlantic Boulevard, with a bridge over the northbound on-ramp from Cypress Creek.

Collector roads on northbound I-95 between Cypress Creek and Atlantic, and southbound between Cypress Creek and Commercial to handle on/off movements.

Some of the smaller improvements the state is calling for at all of the Broward interchanges would be built in two to three years as express lanes are expanded through Broward. The more complex projects with bigger costs and right-of-way acquisitions would take up to a decade or longer before work would start.

Problems at the Broward Boulevard exit will be studied separately, along with the I-595 and State Road 84 interchanges, as part of expansions of I-95 express lanes.