An internal FDOTreport shows more and more drivers are plowing past bright yellow “closed” signs and getting into 95 Express when the lanes are technically shut down for accidents or broken-down vehicles. But the Florida Highway Patrol can’t enforce the signs because they’re the wrong color: yellow-on-black instead of black-and-white.
We got an unusual volume of listener and reader comments in response to our original story on the topic. Many were suggestions for how FDOT should handle lane closures and drivers that get in anyhow. We collected a few of the more popular ideas and asked FDOT officials for their thoughts.
FINE BY TOLL
If a driver enters 95 Express while closed, “don't cancel the charge,” wrote Pam Edwards. “Put a flat $25.00 charge for violators, plus they stand the chance of running into debris to ruin their auto.”
Others proposed the same idea with varying fees, everything from the current maximum toll ($10.50) all the way up to $250.00.
Rory Santana, who oversees 95 Express, says FDOT has actually talked about this idea: using SunPass to impose a fine. They jokingly call it “the Rory toll.”
“It’s a good suggestion,” says Santana. “Unfortunately it’s not one of those things we can decide at this level. It’s one of those things that probably has to get legislative approval.”
FDOT plans to eventually install full-color electronic displays on 95 Express, in part to fix the yellow-on-black versus black-and-white signage problem. But even then, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper would have to witness vehicles driving into 95 Express while the “closed” message is displayed. Any automated law enforcement, like with red light cameras, would require legislative approval, according to FHP.
FDOT could charge a toll -- as opposed to a fine -- when the lanes are closed. But there’s a reason Santana doesn’t want to do that.
“I don’t want your conscience to feel better that I’m charging you. I’m not charging you. You’re wrong. You shouldn’t be there,” says Santana.
BETTER COMMUNICATION
Reader Lou Covatch points out, “by the time you get on [95 Express], they’ve already cleared the area and there’s nothing to be seen. They need better advisory instead of just closed.”
“Never have I encountered any incident in the closed lane,” writes Viani Navarrete. “If the operators of the sign were more diligent about the on-off switch, there would be more compliance.”
Rory Santana promises that, as soon as sign operators can, they switch the electronic sign from “closed” back to a toll amount.
“It does not stay closed unless there’s something still in there,” says Santana. “I’m glad you don’t see it because that means we probably cleared it after you got past the initial signs.”
And as for the better communication in signage, Santana says they’re working on it.
“We are actually waiting on some additional information on what type of signs we can put out there,” says Santana. “Information such as right lane, left lane. Incident. Crash. And actually give you more detail.”
BARRICADES
“Actually close off the lanes,” writes Pam Edwards. “Place barricades to eliminate autos coming on.” Specifically, those orange barrels or a Road Ranger.
“This comes down to the cure, many times, will be worse than the problem,” says Santana. The average time for an unexpected closure in May was 16 minutes. Santana says barricading the lane could take twice as long. Plus it would likely take a Road Ranger away from helping deal with whatever incident shut the express lanes down to begin with.
MECHANICAL GATES
Our last suggestion comes from Carlos Lora, a regular sign-flouter featured in the original story about the “closed” signs. Lora pointed out that there’s nothing blocking him from getting in to the 95 Express when they’re closed. Not like those gates that come down at train tracks or the arms he saw on the new 595 express lanes.
“Those would physically inhibit you from taking the express lane,” says Lora. “[With a sign] nothing’s going to blow my tires. Nothing's going to physically stop me.”
Gates are the option of last resort for FDOT. Lanes on I-95 were already squeezed to accommodate the express lane project. Gates would make things even tighter.
“We’re hoping that, with education and increased enforcement, that motorists will start obeying better,” says Mark Wilson, who oversees state-wide traffic operations for FDOT. “And if not then we’ll have to look at putting gates in.”
A recent report from the Sun Sentinel may cast doubt on whether gates could even fix the problem. The mechanical arms on 595 have been hit by drivers 105 times since March 26. That’s an average of roughly 20 hits per month.
The 595 express lanes change direction throughout the day. There are a series of gates -- and eventually a solid barrier -- meant to stop wrong-way accidents.
Reporter Michael Turnbell, who wrote the Sun Sentinel story, says no one has actually gone through all the gates and ended up driving in the wrong direction.
“They’re not deliberate acts of drivers trying to enter the wrong way. It’s more distracted driving and possibly drivers trying to pass and then realizing that there’s a gate ahead,” says Turnbell.
So would gates on 95 Express get hit 20 times a month? That depends on how seriously I-95 drivers would take a mechanical arm.
