Description
The newly paved roadway & bike lane additions are great along A1A between ~NE 18th St and Oakland Park Bvld! ..but there are a few issues.
(1): Southbound bike lane starts shrinking right before NE 27th St intersection and then merges with the right auto lane in the intersection. Cars pass dangerous close to cyclist- not to mention there is a slight curve in this portion of roadway. (picture)
(2): Northbound bike lane ends right at the Oakland Park Blvd intersection. Having 10-15+ mph bikes merging with 35+mph cars in the intersection is very dangerous. I would imagine a bike box would solve this issue during a red light as bikes can queue in-front of cars, but during a green light, what would allow safe merging?
(3): I have never crossed (on foot) A1A between 18th St and Oakland Park, but I see many who do at A1A & NE 27th St. There is a small white "watch for ped" sign, but why wasn't a crosswalk put in place? Also why is this section of A1A 35mph where as south of ~18th St is only 30mph?
Thank you
4 Comments
Alex (Guest)
Alex (Guest)
Darlene - FL DOT (Guest)
Teresa O'Connor (Guest)
Dear Alex,
By way of introduction, my name is Teresa O'Conor and I am a Traffic Studies Specialist with FDOT.
I have coordinated your questions with different Department's within FDOT, in order to answer all of your questions in one response. The Construction Office, Engineer of Record, and the Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator all contributed to this response.
1) SR A1A from NE 18th to Oakland Park Blvd. didn't have bike lanes before the resurfacing project. Room for bike lanes was made by reducing the lane width to as low as 10 feet. In most places this enabled us to provide 4 ft bike lanes, but toward the north end of the project there wasn't enough right of way to also provide 4 through lanes, dual turn lanes, and 4 ft wide bike lanes.All available space after providing for the travel lanes was utilized for bike lanes but unfortunately not all areas would have 4 ft to be a designated bike lane. The section in the photo is not a designated bike lane, but a paved shoulder.
2) There is not a designated bike lane just north of Oakland Park Blvd, only paved shoulders. The designated bike lane had to end before Oakland Park Blvd due to inadequate width of right of way.
A1A at Oakland Park Blvd would not be a candidate location for a bike-box because north of this location is scheduled to have bike-lanes installed as a part of a resurfacing project planned to begin in 2012. Bike boxes have not been used in Florida, however; the Department is considering installing one or two as a study area, in the future. Candidate loctions will likely be on A1A, in Martin, St. Lucie, or Indian River Counties. Locations for which there are no plans currently in place to install designated bike lanes.
3) The Department does not install marked, unsignalized crosswalks on roadway sections greater that 3 lanes, and with posted speed limits in excess of 30 MPH. Prior to the beginning of the resurfacing project the Department performed a Signal Warrant Analysis on A1A at NE 27th and the location did not meet the minimum threshold requirements for either a full traffic signal, nor a pedestrian signal. Also, prior to the project the Department performed a Speed Study and 35 MPH was determined to be the appropriate safe and reasonable speed. In February 2008 the Department performed a Speed Study for the portion of A1A south of 18th , and 30 MPH was determined to be the appropriate safe and reasonable speed for that section of roadway. Regarding the 'Watch for Peds Crossing SR A1A' signs. These are not standard signs and we will replace them with the standard yellow/green pedestrian warning signs. Those should be much more visible. The signs will be changed within 30 days. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
If you have any questions please contact me.
Sincerely,
Teresa O'Connor