Construction begins this week on a $4.1 million roundabout and associated road improvements at crash-prone U.S. 1 and Old Dixie Highway just south of Bunnell. Drivers need to be aware of some major traffic modifications ahead, including traffic shifts and the closing of the existing intersection at U.S. 1 and Old Dixie.
The new patterns begin this week and will be in place for about seven months, when a different pattern will be necessary. Construction, contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation, will stretch over 15 months. The current shifts are needed to maintain traffic on U.S. 1 while construction of the northbound side of the new roundabout is completed.
The new traffic pattern will be as follows (see the diagram above):
This week southbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and be shifted slightly west onto new pavement.
Southbound U.S. 1 traffic heading to Old Dixie Highway will be directed to stay on southbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to return to Old Dixie Highway using northbound U.S. 1. Old Dixie Highway drivers heading to southbound U.S. 1 will have to turn onto northbound U.S. 1 and make a U-turn to access southbound U.S. 1.
Later this week, northbound U.S. 1 will be reduced to one lane and shifted west onto the existing southbound side of the roadway. Once this shift is made, U.S. 1 will have one lane in each direction through the project area. The speed limit will be reduced along U.S. 1 through the construction zone, and drivers are asked to be alert and use caution when traveling through the work area.
A new, temporary intersection connecting U.S. 1 with Old Dixie Highway and County Road 325 will be opened just north of the existing intersection. The existing intersection will be closed.
Once the northbound U.S. 1 traffic is shifted, drivers will not be able to get onto Park Place from U.S. 1.
Schedules may change due to weather or other circumstances. Electronic message boards and other signage will help to direct motorists. Updates are available at FlaglerLive’s Daily Briefing or on the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Central Florida website.
The roundabout is one of two that the transportation department will be building in Flagler. The second will be built at the intersection of Matanzas Woods Parkway and U.S. 1. A third roundabout, at Cody’s Corner on State Road 11, is planned, but is delayed indefinitely for now. The roundabouts are part of a broader trend in road engineering with many roundabouts replacing traditional four-way intersections across Florida as roundabouts are demonstrably safer, significantly reducing fatalities in crashes and the severity of crashes overall.
Click to access 441210-1-U.S.-1-Roundabout-Construction.pdf
gmath55 says
Roundabout Failures
Pierre Tristam says
Hard to call those “failures.” I watched two minutes of this grass-watching compilation. Sure, a few missed lanes, a little hesitation, the occasional brake applied quickly, but not a single wreck, not even a fender bender. We can live with that, and I do mean live.
Anonymous says
Not ONE of the round abouts were one that is approached at 65-70 mph like on us-1.Again,been pulling out of that intersection for YEARS without EVER A problem just by simply following signs and instructions as well as common sense and awareness.If you lack any of those traits if not killed there there’s a good chance you will simply be killed elsewhere.Cant fix stupid with a roundabout.Please just stay off the roadway and make it safer for the rest of us not needing huge money spent and a special circle for those not capable of turning left or right after a stop without being killed
Tyler says
So we’re gonna put a roundabout on a busy and deadly section of highway but we can’t slap a gas station somewhere between SR-100 and Palm Coast Parkway?
Not to mention, yeah roundabouts are proven to be safer. But people here don’t know how to use them or the proper yielding for roundabouts. Grab a lawn chair and sit in the middle of the Town Center roundabout by Olive Garden. Just record how many idiots go through it and cut off the internal lane to wait for the light for left turn onto 100.
Dolores says
I don’t have confidence in the roundabout change. One only needs to see that the intersection is the deadliest because 5 people died in one crash in 2016 which upped the stats. If you subtract the 5 fatalities there and add up ALL the other fatalities memorialized between Belle Terre Pkwy and south to Volusia county on straight , good visibility roadway it is the same! Speed and distracted driving is the problem and a traffic light would have been as effective and certainly more cost effective solution, lowering speed limit helps too.The same knuckleheads who ignore traffic lights will blow through roundabouts. The worst offenders I witness weekly are the Plantation Bay residents who feel they can pull out on a red light southbound, because the traffic on US1 is light.