BOYNTON BEACH — Plans are moving forward for a $37 million bridge over Florida’s Turnpike that would take Lyons Road motorists from Flavor Pict Road east to Hagen Ranch Road, a long-awaited project to address traffic congestion in the region west of Boynton Beach .
Palm Beach County commissioners on May 14 approved a $2.2 million contract to hire Kimley-Horn and Associates to design the project. It would extend Flavor Pict with a four-lane roadway (expandable to six lanes) and a six-lane bridge over the Turnpike, along with curbs and gutters at the median, a bike lane, sidewalks, drainage, signing and traffic signals.
The overall length of the new road is 1.7 miles. The design work is expected to take about two years.
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The project has yet to be fully funded, but commissioners are committed to spending much more in future years on road construction to address traffic congestion across the county.
The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency expects construction to begin in fiscal year 2028, but that depends on the county providing more than $26 million in funding.
The TPA reports the Florida Department of Transportation will provide $10 million. So far, the county, according to its five-year plan, has only committed to $4.7 million for studies, design work and right of way acquisition. County engineers will seek federal grants to help cover the costs. The TPA estimates the total cost to be $37.7 million.
Morton L. Rose, the county's roadway production director, noted that the project is in the early stages of development. It is included in the agency’s five-year plan with construction expected to begin in fiscal year 2028, the same timetable as the TPA.
Rose said it would take about two years to build the bridge, which means, at the earliest, it would not be open until 2030.
“This has been on the backburner for a long time. It is overdue,” said County Mayor Maria Sachs, whose district includes the bridge site. “I appreciate the patience of the communities along Lyons Road. I cannot wait to be one of the first to drive over it.”
Sachs said she is hopeful the county will fully fund the project so construction can begin in fiscal 2028.
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Valencia Cove, Valencia Bay and Valencia Sound are in the middle of the 5-mile stretch of Lyons between Atlantic Avenue and Boynton Beach Boulevard. That means residents in those communities must travel about 2.5 miles either south or north to get to an east-west road. The Flavor Pict project would eliminate that circuitous route.
Lyons used to dead-end about 2 miles south of Boynton Beach Boulevard until 2013 when the county connected the roadway from Atlantic Avenue to Boynton Beach Boulevard. It quickly became a heavily used roadway, so much so that the county is planning to widen it to four lanes from two over the next five years.
An extension of Flavor Pict west to State Road 7 is expected to open within the next two months.
Kimley-Horn, based in West Palm Beach, will be required to support public information meetings with adjacent HOAs and stakeholders, solicit comments and address residents' concerns. It will provide project information, including graphics, plans and other documents to inform the public in an effort to gain support for the project.
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The previous district commissioner, Mary Lou Berger, opposed the project. There has been some opposition from communities on the east side of the Turnpike who are concerned about additional traffic that the bridge would generate.
And there might be some opposition from homeowners on the north side of Valencia Bay, where a number of homes would be near the new roadway.
“There will always be opposition, but we can work with folks to make this work for them,” Sachs said, noting that the project will raise property values by making it safer and easier to go from east to west.
Barbara Roth, president of the Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations, noted that COBWRA has member communities on both the east end and west side of the Flavor Pict extension, noting: “Their concerns may differ, but we will encourage an open dialogue among all of them.”
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County commissioners are considering allocating 100% of gas tax funds toward new road construction to get more projects done. By doing so, the move is expected to provide nearly $40 million a year for new projects, about four times the current figure.
Under consideration for the Flavor Pict project are three bridge alternatives:
- A six-lane divided bridge with a traffic separator.
- A narrower six-lane bridge using a median barrier wall.
- A six-lane bridge with a shared-use path on the south side of the roadway instead of sidewalks.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com . Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: County prepares to build bridge over turnpike to address Lyons Road traffic congestion
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