$1.8M FDOT Project Coming to Lyons
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has recommended spending nearly two million dollars to prevent accidents on the curved section of Lyons Road. A review of crashes over a five year period (2007 to 2011) found a concentration in this area:
The police hard copy crash reports revealed that 48 of these crashes involved vehicles traveling along the curved section of Lyons Road. Of these, 37 happened north of the intersection with Escondido Way; 26 were traveling southbound on Lyons Road and 11 were traveling northbound. Furthermore, 22 crashes involved wet pavement. Nine crashes were recorded in the intersection of Escondido Way and Lyons Road. A majority of the crashes (32 crashes or 58.2%) were run off the road crashes.
We reported on a crash in this area in May on the West Boca News Facebook page.
Our readers will be surprised to hear this (sarcasm alert) but apparently drivers go faster than the recommended speed in this area:
The analysis of speed data collected on the study segment on May 21, 2012 showed that almost 100% of the motorists were driving over the advisory speed (30 mph) by an average of 30.17% to 48.73% above the speed. Vehicles in the 85th percentile traveled even faster, averaging between 40% and 66.67% over the advisory speed.
Data points included many over 50 mph and even some over 60 mph, or double the recommended speed.
In an earlier phase of the project “speed feedback signs” (the ones that flash when you’re going too fast) were installed. They didn’t work:
The analysis of the speed data revealed that the installation of the SFSs did not bring down the speeds significantly and that the majority of the motorists still traveled substantially above the advisory speed of 30 mph.
Since the signs didn’t work, FDOT is now recommending major roadwork on the curved section.
Reconstruct the roadway typical section per Palm Beach County Engineering and Public Works recommendations to improve existing super elevation through the curves. The proposed reconstruction project will rebuild the three curved segments of the road with the super elevation appropriate for the 40-mph design speed limit, relax the three horizontal curves, add shoulders on both sides, and add a 6-foot pathway on the west side of the road.
The report does not provide much detail on the changes beyond what’s written above, but the reference to super elevation suggests the curves will be banked, but not as much as this picture:
It’s unclear when this roadwork will begin, but it should take several weeks with dramatic traffic impact.
The full FDOT report is below:
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