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Jul 19, 2008 2:35 pm US/Eastern
I-95 Express Lanes Debut With A Bang, Literally
I-95 High Occupancy Vehicle, or HOV, Lanes Are Being Transformed Into High Occupancy Toll or HOT Lanes
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
It's been a week since I-95's new Express Lanes opened with a bang--literally. The express lanes have led to several accidents, and on some days more congestion.
On Friday,
CBS4 arrived at the Department of Transportation district secretary to ask how the office is handling the acccidents that have plagued the corridor, mostly by confused drivers who get in the lanes in Miami but can't get out for nine miles.
CBS4 documented the chaos of people weaving in out of plastic barriers, some were successful, some crashed.
"I was amazed," said FDOT District Secretary Gus Pego. "Amazed when I watched the 11 o'clock news to see how the drivers were behaving. That was amazing."
Pego believes his agency may have messed up, not accounting for the typical South Florida driver.
"We rank very high every year on the aggressiveness of our drivers in South Florida. I guess the lessons learned would be to try to take that more into consideration in our normal design processes," said Pego.
Pego says the designs for future phases of 95 Express are being "hardened". It could mean concrete barriers and elevated lanes. In the week since this crash express debut, Pego has added more signs. Next week, he plans to make the slalom course harder to navigate.
"As soon as we get the materials in, the contractor will be installing additional posts to reduce the space between the posts. We see that as positive and deterrent for people weaving in and out of these managed lanes," said Pego.
Pego is no longer underestimating the South Florida driver.
"You and me who obey the traffic laws; we'll survive," said Pego. "The majority of us will be okay, but there will always be somebody who wants to cut in, and what I would say is look out."
He is optimistic that the problems with 95 Express are being worked out; 95 averages about six accidents a day. When these lanes opened a week ago, there were 18. Since then things have gotten much better: on Friday, there were two.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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