US 1 Enhancement Project

The City of Delray Beach and the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are collaborating on a joint test project involving temporary modifications on US 1 (Federal Highway).

Measures taken by the City and CRA include closing off one lane of SE and NE 5th and 6th Avenues (southbound and northbound US 1) between SE 10th Street and George Bush Boulevard.  Temporary barriers are in the process of being installed.  

These changes will allow officials to study the effectiveness of:

• Fewer and narrower lanes
• New signal timing plans on peak and off-season traffic
• Driver operating speeds
• Accident rates

The benefits recognized by reducing lanes in this area of US 1 include:

• Slower speeds
• Safer, more-pedestrian-friendly environment
• Landscaping beautification and decorative, environmentally-sensitive street lighting
• Bicycle lanes
• Parking will be available on the east and west sides of both avenues
• A new sense of continuity with the Downtown area

Data collected during the 2008-2009 season will be compared to data collected prior to implementing the temporary modifications to determine whether the goals have been achieved.  Traffic volume data from Palm Beach County collected from 2002 to 2006 indicate that average volumes have decreased by over 4% on northbound US 1 and over 6% on southbound US 1.

For more information, please contact the City of Delray Beach Engineering Department at (561) 243-7322 or see the documents below.

To view the CRA US 1 Enhancement Project Brochure, click CRA US 1 Brochure (423kb pdf).

To view an article adapted from the March-April 2008 issue of Tradewinds on the US 1 Enhancement Project, click 2008 Tradewinds article (173kb pdf)