DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It’s not often that a state agency reverses course, but that is, at least partially, the case for a road project in Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach.
After public outcry, the Florida Department of Transportation ripped up some of the changes they made earlier this year on State Road A1A.
What You Need To Know
FDOT is currently constructing a project on State Road A1A with the goal of slowing down drivers and improving pedestrian safety
But features like new raised medians, bulb-outs and swerves in the road received negative feedback from the public
After public outcry, FDOT removed some of the bulb-outs, raised medians and other features
One feature singled out by a local restaurateur was a raised median built in front of Steve’s Famous Diner.
“That median was a giant block of my access to my customers,” Steve’s Famous Diner CEO Christos Mavronas said. “They could not get in here because a lot of my market, a lot of my people that come here to eat, they’re older folks and they didn’t want to do that U-turn.”
The new median is part of a bigger, $20 million FDOT project on SR-A1A from International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach to Milsap Road in Ormond Beach, meant to slow down drivers and make it safer for pedestrians.
“They made the lanes, like swerving lanes, like squiggly like this instead of straight,” said Mavronas.
FDOT officials said those roadway alignment shifts are meant to encourage safer driving speeds.
Up the road from the diner at the Bellair Condos, though, condo association president Joann Cappella said the changes actually made things worse.
“These lane swerves are not slowing anybody down,” she said. “They are increasing the danger. They make it much more dangerous.”
As part of the overall goal of slowing down drivers, lane narrowing features like bulb-outs and curb extensions were added.
After they were installed in front of Cappella’s condo complex, the building’s security camera caught a truck driving off the roadway and onto the new bulb-out.
“Shock. Absolute utter shock at the idiocy of it,” Cappella said. “It makes no sense at all.”
After pushback from the public — which included complaints from Cappella and her fellow residents — FDOT reversed course, at least on some of the added features.
The new bulb-outs were removed and replaced with the painted zebra lines.
“It is a little safer because that curb isn’t right beside your tire,” Capella said.
Capella and her neighbors still want a raised median removed to restore their closer access to the beach across the highway, but that hasn’t happened.
But FDOT did remove some other medians, including the one in front of Steve’s Famous Diner.
“Now it’s gone and now it’s beautiful because my customers can turn in now,” Mavronas said.
FDOT District 5 Deputy Communications Administrator Matthew Richardson said the changes were made to ensure the final project reflects the community’s needs, while still meeting safety and operational goals.
“This project did undergo some changes to address public feedback about a few design elements, such as the curbside lane-narrowing features called bulb-outs and chicanes, adjusted turn lanes and median openings, and restores roadside shoulder access,” Richardson said.
Richardson noted that most of the project — including raised crosswalks and intersections — is moving forward, with features being installed this month.
Mavronas gave FDOT credit for reversing course in the face of community feedback.
“I’m so happy that they jumped into action and they fixed the median,” he said. “They removed it.”