West of Delray, Lyons Road widening project hits another bump — this one filled with concrete

Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read

The county project to widen Lyons Road in South County has seen it all.

Obstacles have included underground utilities that were never mapped, supply-chain issues and, now, a foundation that supports the traffic signals at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road is so wide and deep that it cannot be removed. Fortunately, for area residents and county engineering officials, the Florida Department of Transportation has approved what is called a “shallow removal.”

The foundations of the traffic signal "mast arms" extend 40 feet into the ground. None of that foundation has been removed yet but the contractor will remove the top 5-10 feet of it. The foundations supporting the mast arms have to be removed and relocated to accommodate the widened intersection.

A worker examines one of the mast arms at a traffic light at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road.
A worker examines one of the mast arms at a traffic light at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road.

“We received approval to remove the top portion of the mast arm at the northeast corner and allow the bottom piece to remain buried. This will allow the work to proceed on schedule with expected completion in July 2024,” said Deputy County Engineer Joanne Keller. "Otherwise, this could have been a real problem."

The much-maligned project is already more than 18 months behind schedule. Keller said that had FDOT not agreed to the “shallow removal,” completion of the work would have been indefinitely postponed.

In the upcoming weeks, the contractor will begin paving through the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road.  This work will require switches in the traffic pattern.

A worker tries to remove a foundation at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road that is buried so deep into the ground that only the top part can be removed. State officials approved a county request to leave part of it buried or else the work at the intersection would have undergone another delay.
A worker tries to remove a foundation at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road that is buried so deep into the ground that only the top part can be removed. State officials approved a county request to leave part of it buried or else the work at the intersection would have undergone another delay.

Three of the four mast-arm foundations for traffic signals that were placed in the ground years ago at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road have already been removed.

“The last remaining one (at the northeast corner) was unable to be fully removed due to its unique size and shape and the adjacent overheard utilities,” Keller explained.

She said multiple contractors were called in to try to remove the one foundation that was left. When all efforts failed, she said that the county persuaded FDOT to go along with removing just the top 5 to 10 feet of the foundation.

MORE: Lyons Road widening project hits another snag; more underground utility lines discovered

She said the issue did not cause any further delays because the contractor was able to work on other areas while the county waited for FDOT approval.

Much of the widening of the road from two lanes to four lanes between Clint Moore north to Atlantic Avenue has already been completed. Large-scale developments west of Delray Beach and Boca Raton — the Bridges, Lotus and Seven Bridges — have complained for more than a year about the delays and confusing lane adjustments that have resulted in multiple crashes.

The ongoing work, though, at the Atlantic and Lyons Road intersection continues at times to create lengthy back-ups.

Meanwhile, the long awaited Flavor Pict extension from Lyons Road to State Road 7 is expected to be finished by early next month. The project, expected to originally be completed in 2018, will provide the first east-west link on Lyons Road between Atlantic and Clint Moore, a distance of more than four miles. The link is designed to ease traffic congestion on Lyons Road.

Want more Delray Beach news?

Sign up for our Post on Delray Beach weekly newsletter, delivered every Thursday!

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West of Delray Beach, Lyons Road widening work faces delay