Published on Monday, January 16, 2006
in the Palm Beach Post

Additional troopers to patrol I-95

In the coming weeks, motorists on Interstate 95 can count on seeing a lot more blue: the flashing blue of Florida Highway Patrol lights.

The Florida Department of Transportation has approved a new agreement with the FHP to put more troopers on the highway to go after speeders and aggressive drivers in the 20-mile stretch that's under construction from Boynton Beach to Palm Beach Gardens.

Beginning today, troopers will pay extra attention to the Belvedere curve, the area between the Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard interchanges, where impatient drivers use the merge lanes to pass.

"This will hopefully alleviate some of the congestion problems and safety issues in the area," said Andrea Pacini, spokeswoman for The Corradino Group, the engineering firm overseeing the road widening work.

Another program has been set up to increase safety at night, when lanes are closed for construction.

Every 2 miles, contractors are required to set up speed limit signs with flashing lights and portable radar detectors that display how fast drivers are going. In addition, an FHP trooper is assigned to each zone.

The presence of troopers every couple of miles is intended to be a deterrent to speeders, Pacini said. But troopers will leave their zones and give chase if they get a report of a drunken driver or other serious violation, FHP Lt. Tim Frith said.

The state will spend $1.5 million on the "motorist awareness system" on I-95 through the completion of construction in 2009, Pacini said.

The FHP has not compiled any statistics since the program began in August to determine whether it's led to a decrease in crashes or increase in speeding tickets, Frith said.

"I certainly expect citations to go up," he said.

Corradino's preliminary indications are that the motorist awareness system has created a safer work environment for construction crews, said Eduardo Perez de Morales, the firm's resident engineer.

"Our challenge is to coordinate the enforcement and educate drivers to recognize the system on I-95 and regard it with the same caution as one would a school zone with flashing lights," Perez said.

The state also is using the motorist awareness program in construction zones on other major highways, including Florida's Turnpike.