New access for vehicles, motorized and not, re-entered the conversation for improving the approximate 10-mile length of Glades Cut-Off Road/County Road 709 in St. Lucie in recent weeks.
County engineers presented a public workshop Feb. 24 on possible improvements to Glades Cut-Off Road to handle more traffic and accommodate population growth predictions over the next 20 years.
St. Lucie staff conducted two meetings that evening: one virtual over Zoom, the other in-person at the Havert L. Fenn Center, 2000 Virginia Ave. A total of 72 attended these meetings: 30 on Zoom and 42 (including 24 visitors and 18 project staff) in-person, according to Lisa Stone, a civil engineer with Kimley-Horn.
Engineers vetted the public on what alternatives may be built across a right-of-way spanning nearly 300 feet between culverts to the west and the Florida East Coast railroad to the east, county documents show.
They presented residents with two options. Both included two 12-foot motor lanes in either direction separated by a 22-foot median and a shared-use path along the road’s western perimeter distanced by a 10-foot berm.
This improvement, the first of the alternatives, would cost approximately $235 million, according to Stone. The other option would add one 7-foot bike lane in each direction, bringing the total to around $247.6 million.
In addition, the new Glades Cut-Off road would have its speed limit normalized to 45 miles-per-hour between Range Line Road to the south and its northern terminus at Selvitz Road.
“Overall, there was strong support for the proposed roadway improvements,” Stone wrote in a March 6 email. “While some participants expressed support for the alternative with on-street bike lanes, a greater number favored the alternative without bike lanes.”
One supporter for the bike lane alternative was Port St. Lucie City Council member David Pickett.
“With the popularity of cycling in St. Lucie County, I would hope that serious consideration is given to adding the bike lanes,” Pickett commented in the virtual session. “I would rather spend the money now (to add them) than at a later time at a higher cost.”
Design updates for Glades Cut-Off Road are nearing completion. “The phase is tentatively scheduled to be completed later this year,” Stone wrote. “At this time, the future phases of the project are not funded.”
Safety, including multimodal access and signalization, also remains a key objective in improving the road in the county’s vision.
A total of 94 collisions occurred in the corridor across a 5-year period, according to a county crash study. One collision was fatal; 32 (34 percent) were injurious, and 61 (64.9 percent) resulted in property damage.
All but one of the eight existing intersections along Glades Cut-Off Road meet FDOT’s “level of service” standards, studies conducted since early 2023 show. The sole exception is where Glades meets Midway Road/County Road 712 near the county landfill and industrial corridor.
When integrating traffic projections in the year 2045, Marjorie Lane near the Copper Creek community becomes the sole intersection to meet these standards if no new construction occurs.
New construction on Glades Cut-Off Road will co-exist with widening projects along Midway Road, which continue a short distance away.
The Florida Department of Transportation reported 75 percent completion on widening the 0.785-mile stretch between Selvitz and Jenkins roads east of the Florida Turnpike, according to FDOT communications manager Guillermo Canedo.
Several new yards of sidewalk have since been laid along the southbound lane west of Jenkins Road and Milner Drive. Other improvements, including sidewalks along the north side and an extensive storm basin, remain under construction.
Canedo added the $23.8 million buildout there incurred 272 days of delays – roughly three quarters of a year – due to “weather, holidays, special events and extra work.” They expect the project to be complete by this fall.
Designs to widen 0.7 miles of Midway Road between Jenkins and Glades Cut-Off roads are also expected to finish by this fall, according to the FDOT website. The project, expected to cost $71.4 million, includes a six-lane overpass and access ramps to the Florida Turnpike.