{"id":27471,"date":"2025-10-31T03:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T03:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/27471\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T03:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T03:23:06","slug":"port-st-lucie-looks-to-cut-down-on-traffic-improve-safety-on-southbend-blvd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/27471\/","title":{"rendered":"Port St. Lucie looks to cut down on traffic, improve safety on Southbend Blvd"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 As Port St. Lucie experiences rapid growth, traffic concerns are mounting, especially along Southbend Boulevard, a four-mile stretch from SW Oakridge Drive to SE Becker Road.<\/p>\n<p>City officials kicked off a new study to find ways to improve traffic flow and safety along the road that has just one lane in each direction and sees more than 15,000 cars a day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to continue to evaluate our roadways as we see growth,\u201d said Beth Zsoka, who does community outreach for the city\u2019s Public Works Department. \u201cWe want to make sure our roadways can accommodate the additional growth and keep residents safe. Safety is number one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/st-lucie-gardens-faces-growing-pains-amid-countys-development-boom-florida-october-25-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">St. Lucie Gardens faces growing pains amid county\u2019s development boom<\/a><\/p>\n<p>During a public meeting at Jessica Clinton Park Thursday, residents voiced their frustrations and shared ideas on how to cut down on traffic and keep cars moving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the end of Southbend Boulevard to Becker (Road) is a death trap,\u201d one woman said.<\/p>\n<p>Another woman added, \u201cWe\u2019re having a lot of trouble getting out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many people complained about congestion and speeding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t turn left, you can\u2019t turn right because everybody\u2019s speeding down,\u201d said Patricia Blake, a community member. \u201cThey need to get some lights up there and more stops signs, a four-way stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bill Mancusi lives near Southbend Boulevard and drives down the road multiple times a day. He said it\u2019s difficult to get onto the road from side streets during peak hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the early hours, like 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., it&#8217;s very difficult to get onto Southbend from the side streets. I could be there for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and it&#8217;s very dangerous,\u201d Mancusi said. \u201cThey\u2019re just in a rush. They\u2019re frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officials with the Public Works Department said they\u2019re looking at all options, including widening the road, adding medians, improving lighting, and even installing traffic circles.<\/p>\n<p>The project is still in the early stages, so there\u2019s no estimated cost yet. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityofpsl.com\/News\/2025\/Public-meeting-on-Oct.-30-to-help-shape-the-future-of-Southbend-Boulevard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">second public meeting<\/a> is planned for the spring.<\/p>\n<p>The Southbend Blvd. improvement project is expected to wrap up in the fall of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 As Port St. Lucie experiences rapid growth, traffic concerns are mounting, especially&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-27471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}