WELLINGTON, Fla. — Some drivers have called a stretch of Southern Boulevard in western Palm Beach County a death trap.
The road has been under construction for months to make safety improvements.
Stretches of Southern Boulevard in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach remain ripped up and under construction.
New traffic signals are being installed this week, but the intersection improvement project at Forest Hill and Crestwood Boulevards first began more than a year ago in October of 2019.
"That intersection is kind of dangerous when you make a left turn when you're coming from Southern to Forest Hill," said Maximo Caminero.
Caminero calls the construction a nuisance, but says it's needed to make Southern Boulevard safer.
"I drive it every day and I see that situation every day. The traffic does not respect the red light from either side," Caminero said.
Construction crews helped direct traffic Wednesday as FDOT worked to add left turn lanes from Southern onto Forest Hill, and Southern is being widened to add an eastbound acceleration lane.
"The turn lanes are serious improvements and it's a very good improvement to keep us safer," said driver Fernando Gomez.
Some businesses in a nearby shopping center, already hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, now say the construction is also hurting business. It's more difficult to pull into the parking lot, but they say the end result hopefully will help ease congestion."
"It's absolutely necessary to do that construction over there, it is," Caminero said.
The $5.7 million project is set to be completed in Spring of next year.
