Treacherous Lyons Road In West Delray To Near Completion In January

PBC Mayor Issues Exclusive Statement To BocaNewsNow.com.

Section Between Clint Moore And Atlantic Has Been Under Construction For Years Due To Contractor Problems.

BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher 

DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The nightmare that is Lyons Road for thousands of motorists driving between Clint Moore Road and Atlantic Avenue each day is nearly over, according to Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs in an exclusive statement made to BocaNewsNow.com.

What was supposed to be a quick construction project has turned into a multi-year ordeal, where the only beneficiary seems to be Bob — as in “Bob’s Barricades.” Bob’s orange barriers have lined Lyons for more than two years, creating traffic havoc. As we’ve reported, inept planning in the early stages of the project failed to identify underground utility conduits. Work was stopped — for months — while the road expansion project was reconfigured. When it restarted, contractor issues led to additional delays.

Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs issued this statement to BocaNewsNow.com.

“Last week, crews worked for two days to set the four new poles at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Lyons Road.  The next step will be to activate the temporary signal so the old poles can be removed for the contractor to finish the widening needed at that intersection.  We expect the concrete foundation and the temporary signal to be ready for activation in mid-January 2024.

In the past few weeks, the contractor has completed the subgrade and placed road base for the connection south of the new LWDD L-38 bridge.  Last week, they installed curb in that area.  The road bed passed its density testing today so that it will now be ready for asphalt.  In the meantime, crews have been working on the asphalt near 153^rd Road South.  As of today, the contractor was able to open up one of the southbound lanes across the new bridge!  The contractor will continue work to complete the asphalt southward to allow those maintenance of traffic devices (barrels and barricades) to be removed by the end of January 2024 from that point all the way south to Clint Moore Road.“

The section of Lyons Road, which spans the unincorporated Palm Beach County area using the “Boca Raton” and “Delray Beach” names for addresses, was never designed to be a highly-traveled road. But then G.L. Homes built The Bridges, Seven Bridges, Lotus, and Boca Bridges, bringing thousands of new homeowners, often with multiple cars per family.

In its planning and approval of the GL communities, the Palm Beach County Commission never required the builder to expand Lyons Road as a condition. The thousands of new homeowners led to tens of thousands of trips up and down Lyons each week — trips the road was never designed to handle. By the time Palm Beach County determined expansion was needed, the road was already overused, and GL Homes had no responsibility to manage its expansion.

Read our previous Lyons Road coverage here. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responds to crashes on the road with notable frequency, sometimes several times each week.