Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation invited the public to engage in a pair of meetings early December – one virtual, the other at its training center on Edison Avenue, Dec. 3. The meetings were held to review and reveal changes to earlier designs which were discussed back in January and February 2023.
As part of the ongoing public notice and discourse during the design phase, Project Manager Michael Brock, P.E. and FDOT staff welcomed guests to review plans prior to a brief audio presentation. Following the recorded statements, Brock welcomed questions about the latest changes to the design of the I-95 corridor. In focus: the area between the I-10 split on I-95 to the Beaver Street portion of the roadway. The new updates are only portions of the estimated $321.3 million dollar project, which is slated to begin construction in 2026 with costs still subject to change/s, according to plans on paper.
What is changing from prior plans?
The plans included rehabilitation and replacement of the bridge deck on the Myrtle Avenue Bridge, while adding up to two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction on I-95. Some access management on exit ramps has also been modified, and design changes have been brought in based on traffic studies and input from prior meetings.
Two access management plans were scrapped: The first consisted of modifications along Park Street from I-95 to Edison Avenue. The current concept will have striping between Edison Avenue and Forest Street, where those lanes will create dual left-turn bays from Park Street to Forest Street. The second significant alteration from the 2023 concept was the removal of plans to implement a roundabout at Beaver Street, which may result in fewer access ramps from Church, Beaver and Union streets, when compared to the older conceptualized plans.
Traffic alterations and design changes were drawn up for those frequently using exit and entry points on Forest Street, where Riverside and Brooklyn converge along the ingress and egress of I-95 along the Forest Street corridor up to the interstate. Due to early morning and afternoon traffic heading downtown, into the historic districts as well as the corporate headquarters on Riverside Avenue, drivers will see changes.
A roundabout initially proposed to mitigate congestion at the convergence of Margaret and Forest streets was removed from the plans for the area near Animal Care and Control on the western side of the I-95 overpass. Following the removal of the roundabout, plans now include a repositioning and restructuring of the ramp that takes northbound drivers up onto I-95, which will now be possible by a U-Turn as drivers leave the area. This will allow more peak traffic to empty off I-95 at Forest when newly configured. The new design has dedicated more lanes and lengthened traffic signal time to accommodate the new approach into the busier end of Forest Street approaching Riverside Avenue.
In this area, medians, pedestrian signage and crosswalks have been added, creating a ‘right turn only’ coming out of S. Myrtle Avenue, where it spills into Forest across from the two ramps that exist currently. According to officials, the traffic counts coming off I-95 and spilling into Brooklyn onto Forest Street have warranted these changes.
Plans face critique, impacts won’t be felt until implemented
As with any major construction project, there is always criticism and feedback that FDOT officials take into consideration. Skeptics of the plans say that the roadways and their continued piecemeal approach will burden residents and travelers with traffic congestion for years to come. While officials know that they’ll face construction delays, they have been vetting the approach for years as they prepare for construction in 2026 and feel the plans accomplish the goals set forth.
“This is not going to go well is all I can say,” said Jeff Edwards, who was on hand representing interests of the Railyard District and Beaver Street Fisheries, where he is the immediate past-president of the nonprofit and the acting CFO of Beaver Street Fisheries. Edwards made the point that projects of this magnitude often take years to wrap up, many extending well beyond timelines.
Despite taking issue with some design elements, Edwards understands the broader challenges of making a roadway work with infrastructure that dates to the 1950s.
To view more on the project, readers can visit www.nflroads.com/I-95 to download exhibits or view plans.
