City of Delray Beach North Swinton Avenue Roadway Underground Utility Improvements Project
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View the video recording of the September 19th, 2024 Public Meeting

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”.