Guardrails will be installed along a dangerous stretch of State Road 80 west of 20-Mile Bend, thanks to a joint lobbying effort by District 6 Commissioner Jess Santamaria and county staff, Glades community leaders and members of a citizens’ traffic safety group.
Four fatal, car-in-canal accidents and several other serious crashes have occurred on the rural highway between State Road 15 and County Road 880 since early 2009. But the road’s design didn’t meet state criteria for guardrails. County officials sought a variance, and a state traffic study was ordered.
The review concluded that guardrails would be effective in preventing vehicles from leaving the roadway and entering adjacent canals, according to James A. Wolfe, district secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). FDOT engineers are proceeding with developing a project to install guardrails at appropriate locations along State Road 80 at an estimated cost of $4 million.
“We wish to construct this guardrail as soon as possible and have a target to open construction bids by July 2011,” Wolfe stated in an e-mail to Commissioner Santamaria on August 27. “We appreciate the assistance Palm Beach County has provided throughout our review.”
“The safety of residents has always been my number one priority,” said Commissioner Santamaria. “Bringing the agencies to the table to solve this serious problem needed to be done. Everyone is now glad that FDOT acted decisively to implement a plan to install the much-needed barriers.”
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Government
