Broward County Florida I-95 Highway Traffic Trouble: Will New Warning Signs Help?
Broward County Florida motorists frustrated by traffic delays on interstate 95 will soon get a heads-up warning them of what they're in for before they get on the highway.
South Florida motorists have long complained that electronic signs on I-95 informing them of traffic delays ahead are merely telling them what they already know -- and what mess they're already in. Besides being frustrating, highway traffic delays can be a precursor to multi-vehicle pile-ups, rear-end accidents, road rage, and other potential causes of highway motor vehicle accidents in South Florida.
Now the State of Florida is installing small changeable message signs for nearly every east-west cross street intersecting I-95, which runs north/south in Florida, as well as two points of crossing for I-75 in Broward County. The warning signs initiative is part of a $32 million upgrade to Florida's "intelligent transportation system." Construction has already begun and the signs are expected to be live by this summer.
The first South Florida highway to have electronic signs installed on its feeder roads was the Sawgrass Expressway. Signs are now being installed on Florida's Turnpike -- which parallels I-95 in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale -- at Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County interchanges. Highway transportation officials say that while the warning signs won't completely unlock South Florida highway gridlock, they may help give motorists time to decide to take an alternate route.
Every year, interstate 95 claims too many lives and injures too many people in South Florida highway accidents. It will be interesting to see if warning signs at highway crossroads, interchanges and feeder roads help reduce highway accidents -- as well as headaches.
New signs to warn of I-95 traffic trouble in Broward County SunSentinel.com Jan. 16, 2009
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