FDOT outlines plans to make A1A safer in Flagler Beach
FLAGLER BEACH — The Florida Department of Transportation plans to construct enhanced crosswalks and other improvements to increase safety on State Road A1A as part of an upcoming resurfacing project.
The FDOT will resurface the road from South Eighth Street to North 18th Street starting in 2025.
On Thursday, FDOT officials gathered at the Flagler Woman’s Club to share details about its plans and collect feedback from residents. Twenty-one people attended the meeting as of about 7 p.m. and additional residents had registered to attend online.
Planned improvements include “pedestrian hybrid beacon” crossings at South Eighth, South Fifth and South Third streets. The crossings feature overhead traffic signals, similar to traffic lights. When a pedestrian needs to cross the road, he or she presses the button and the signal turns from yellow to red to require cars to stop.
The pedestrian hybrid beacons, or “PHBs,” reduce pedestrian crashes by 69%, according to an FDOT video that played during the meeting.
Other safety-minded improvements include extending the curbs at South Fifth and South Fourth streets, which will force cars to slow down as they turn.
The center median at State Road 100 and A1A will also be extended to slow cars down as drivers turn left.
FDOT Project Manager Joseph Fontanelli said the improvements will make A1A safer, which is what people attending the meeting said they wanted.
“They want people to slow down,” Fontanelli said. “They want more safety features. We have a safe roadway today, but anything we can add is certainly going to be beneficial.”
And the project includes resurfacing A1A to improve the road and maintain it in the harsh seaside environment, he said.
The ongoing design work costs $1 million and is expected to be completed in fall 2024. Construction is funded for the spring of 2025 with $2.5 million, although it is subject to change.
Ed Fendley, a Flagler Beach resident who lives near South 14th Street, said he liked what he saw at the meeting.
“I think that’s great,” Fendley said. “There’s more crosswalks, there’s curb bump outs. FDOT says that will make it safer and slow down traffic.
He said Flagler Beach is a place where you can walk or ride your bicycle to many spots around town. But he said it’s not safe in many areas along State Road A1A or State Road 100.
“If people are going to walk and bike around town, the streets have to be designed safely, so yes, this is one small way to help make it better,” Fendley said.
Joe Kovach, who lives a few blocks north of State Road 100 in Flagler Beach, said he would like to see more attention paid to the north side. Kovach said he sees the pedestrians, some drunk after leaving bars or restaurants. And he sees cars circling around looking for a parking space.
“It just makes sense that something should be done on that side of town as well,” said Kovach, who filled out a comment form. Kovach said he talked to officials and they were “receptive.”
Flagler Beach to get the first seawall
On Thursday, the FDOT announced a change in plans for the seawalls being built to protect A1A: Flagler Beach will get the seawall first instead of Ormond-by-the-Sea.
The seawall will begin half-mile north of Highbridge Road in Volusia County and run north to South Central Avenue in Flagler Beach.
It will be a secant type wall made from reinforced columns. Once landscaping and sand is placed on the walls, people will not know it’s there, said Cindi Lane, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation.
She said the change from Ormond-by-the-Sea to Flagler Beach was a decision by the contractor, partly due to permits.
The wall in Ormond-by-the-Sea is planned to run from south of Sunrise Avenue to Marlin Drive. That includes an area of A1A that sustained a washout last weekend at San Jose Drive, which has since been repaired.
But she cautioned that could change again.
The washout this past weekend along A1A was in an area that will get the new secant seawall.
Lane said that FDOT spent more than $15 million on repairs to A1A after last year’s tropical storms.
“We don’t want to just keep making emergency repairs, we want to come up with a solution that will protect A1A and protect the beach for many decades to come,” Lane said.
The two seawalls will cost about $100 million with 70% funded by the federal government and the rest by the state. But to get the project moving faster, the state will pay for it up front and later be reimbursed.
Lane said that depending on the permits, work could start on the seawall in Flagler Beach in the fall and be completed in about a year.
Residents who want to contact the FDOT about the repaving and safety improvements can call Project Manager Joseph Fontanelli at 386-943-5234 or email him at joseph.fontanelli@dot.state.fl.us.
To call about the seawall, contact Project Manager Ty Garner at 386-943-5299 or email at ty.garner@dot.state.fl.us.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: State Road A1A in Flagler Beach to undergo resurfacing, safety improvements
