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Project Description
The Historic North Swinton Avenue is experiencing pavement deterioration including uneven surfaces of the roadways, asphalt cracking, and accelerated deterioration adversely impacting roadway stability and rideability. This has increased maintenance and shortened the lifespan of resurfacing projects. The city intends to address the deficiencies in the existing roadway and underground utility infrastructure under this project.
In addition, there are of non-continuous sidewalks that prohibit pedestrian connectivity throughout the roadway corridor. The City intends to provide improved bicycle/pedestrian connectivity along the North Swinton Avenue corridor, including to the dedicated bicycle lanes within the NE 2nd Avenue (Seacrest Boulevard) corridor along NW 22nd Street and improvements to the sidewalk located at the NE corner of NE 2nd Avenue and NW 22nd Street Intersection that were not included in the NE 2nd Avenue Beautification Project. The City will also include drainage improvements at the SW corner of NE 2nd Avenue and NW 22nd Street. Additionally, drainage, lighting, signing & pavement marking and landscaping will be addressed throughout the project limits.
For the current project phase, The City of Delray Beach has contracted with WGI, Inc. to provide professional consulting engineering design services leading to completion of construction plans.
Project Objectives & Potential Stakeholder Concerns
Areas of concern during the design phase include:
- Building consensus on proposed improvements via public involvement with area stakeholders
- Rehabilitating the existing surface and underground infrastructure
- Enhancing public safety through improved roadway design, drainage, enhanced pedestrian & bicycle facilities and lighting
- Preserving the character of the historic neighborhood
- Maintaining the existing tree canopy
Areas of concern during the construction phase include:
- Maintaining active communications channels with the community
- Minimizing neighborhood impacts by scheduling construction work in the off-season (April through October)
- Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) by:
- Coordinating with the community on street lane closures, detour routes to maintain safety and maximize access for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists
- Coordinating with local emergency services agencies (police, fire, ambulance) and city employees to ensure that emergency services are not impacted
- Managing elements in the right-of-way which homeowners have installed including but not limited to mailboxes, irrigation, non-standard driveway aprons and vegetation
Project Schedule
Notice to Proceed (“NTP”)
March 15, 2021
Design
Phase 1 & 2
Design Public Information Workshops
Summer 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2023
Phase 1 & 2
Design, Permitting, Bid + Award
Summer 2021 to Winter 2023/2024
Phase 1 - NW/NE 17th St to North of NW 25th Ct (City Limits)
Phase 2 - North of Lake Ida Rd to South of NW/NE 17th St
Construction
Phase 1
Construction Start
Off-season May 2024 through Fall 2024
Construction Public Information Workshop
Spring 2024
Phase 2
Construction Start
Off-season May 2025 through Fall 2025
Construction Public Information Workshop
Spring 2025
Location and Boundary
Project Limits
Phase 1: NW/NE 17th Street to North of NW 25th Court (City Limits)
Phase 2: North of Lake Ida Road to South of NW/NE 17th Street
FAQ
Will my driveway, mailbox or landscaping be affected?
Potentially, depending the on the proposed location of the new water main, but if they are, the impacted items will be replaced “in kind” with whatever is there pre-construction.
When is construction expected to start?
Phase I – Off-season May, 2024 – Fall, 2024
Phase II – Off-season May, 2025 – Fall, 2025
What inconvenience can be expected?
During the construction period temporary detours and/or dust and work being done in the swales can be expected. Individual driveways will be closed for short periods of time (24 hours) as pipe installation progresses and restoration work is completed. Coordination with homeowners will be done in advance for those occurrences. Maintenance of traffic devices (the familiar orange cones) will be placed to inform motorists and pedestrians of areas where construction is taking place and advise on alternate routes. Construction related easements may be needed and will be requested if required.
Will water pressure or water quality be improved?
This project includes water main upgrades in the area of Swinton and NW 25th Court. This work will be reconnecting the existing system from a 6-inch main to an 8-inch main. This should improve water pressure and will not affect water quality.
Will there be a loss of water pressure or will water be turned off at any point?
Water service may be interrupted for a short period of time. Residents will be notified if and when water service disruption is planned.
Since it will be a shared lane, will there be stripes along the road?
It’s not going to have the green stripes like NE 2nd Avenue. It is going to have the shared use symbol similar to what is happening on N Swinton Avenue.
Will there be any speed tables and will anything change on the corner of George Bush and Swinton?
We will look at traffic calming alternatives. We believe, similar with what happened on NE 2nd Avenue, narrowing the travel lanes and installing the landscape nodes will help calm traffic, but we will continue to look at the inclusion of speed tables with the City. Yes, we will be improving the intersection of George Bush and Swinton, it is just we are focusing on 22nd and Lake corridor for now. We will look into that in the future.
Will something be added to the plan, specifically for the corner of 3rd and Swinton? It is very dangerous averaging four accidents per month, near fatal, and we want it fixed before someone does die. There are speed tables, but they are too far from intersection. There are traffic lights on Swinton. Is it possible to put a stop sign directly on Swinton even though there is a traffic light further down.?
We will look at installing stop signs on Swinton, if that is permissible. One of our main goals is traffic calming, so we will look at all options.
There is already excessive speed north of Lake Ida with smooth pavement, this will become a bigger problem as there are already constant speeders.
We are going to look into all traffic calming measures we can to help slow vehicles down.
About the bike lanes, I’m not sure why, maybe a design or cost factor. I am curious about the safety level of having the bikes on the street.
Traffic study asked us to look and determine if speed was a problem. We are working at getting the speed down and per the state requirements or state code, sharrow (road marking used to indicated a shared lane) lanes, where bikes share with vehicles, is good up to 35 miles per hour. We understand there is a speed problem now, and we are working to slow it down so it is safer for cyclists to use it. The thought process in using the sharrow lanes was to not widen the pavement to impede or disturb any existing landscaping along the corridor.
It is the combination of shared traffic calming measures, the reduction in lane widths, it’s the bulb outs that create the speed points. It’s the reduction of speed limit and the potential addition of speed tables. All together it will create the restrictive feel from driver’s viewpoint and reduce speed.
Will you be raising the crown of the road?
No, we will be keeping the same elevation. We are not going to increase it.
Why no gutters? Had about a foot of water in the road the other day and a car went flying through there, slid and hit a tree.
We are including gutters at the landscape nodes. Along Swinton there is a "D" Curb now and we are going to reconstruct it with an "F" Curb. I am not sure if the intent was to curb the section of the road or not, but it is something we can look into.
Introducing curbs throughout requires drastic changes to the road, including saw toothing. Rain is a big concern and this is a less impactive way to provide improvements.
(At meeting, requested resident to send photos or information via email so they can see what he is referring to so they can look into it.)
When this is completed will the poles be removed?
No, unfortunately the poles are not just for FPL, but are also used by AT&T and Comcast, so it would be up to them to underground their lines before poles could be removed.
What about the trees along the street, along aprons, the one by my house. Are they staying?
The intent is, if a tree is there, to keep it. If it is on your property and you want it down, we can do that also. Goal is to preserve, relocate or replace. Trees were surveyed to obtain information on location, health, durability of the trees so informed decisions can be made with property owners.
Not including curbs and gutters - is that a money issue?
The curb returns on the side streets at the intersections will be curbed and guttered, but the overall roadway will not be, except the landscape nodes. Part of that is to utilize the roadside drainage swales. Historically the City of Delray Beach has very good percolation with their soils. We are working with Mock Roos for drainage on the project.
We are making sure the slope is standardized to remove water from the roadway and there will be an increased swale section to assist as well.
Not a monetary issue, but less impactive, which falls in line with our intent to minimize impact.
Will both sides of Swinton Avenue have sidewalks and aprons?
Yes
Who do I contact with additional questions?
You can call the project hotline at 561-492-8803, email: Info@themerchantstrategy.com, or submit a question via this website under “Contact Us”.
Project Documents
2023-12-20 – FINAL PLANS – N. Swinton Avenue Roadway and Underground Utility Improvements Project
Video Recording of the November 30th, 2022 Public Meeting
2022-11-30 N Swinton Public Outreach - FINAL
Project Brochure Invitation - November 2022
Public Meeting Notice Brochure Preliminary Plans - Jan 13th, 2022
Video Recording of Jan. 13th, 2022 Public Meeting
North Swinton Public Outreach Presentation
More Information
If you have any questions or if you would like more information about this project, please use the form below to get in touch.
Alternatively, you may contact the Public Involvement Manager using the information below:
Project Hotline Phone: 561-492-8803
Email: Info@TheMerchantStrategy.com