Photo by Kaila Jones
Sometime in the next six or seven weeks, drivers on A1A will need to stay much more alert when passing through Indian River Shores, or run the risk of cruising through a red light.
Crews are working on crosswalk safety enhancements and three new streetlights at the corner of Highway A1A and Fred Tuerk Drive, but the most abrupt change when the project is complete will be a fully activated red light for all four directions of traffic.
This will come as a shock to locals and visitors who for decades have grown accustomed to not stopping at the flashing light at that intersection.
Drivers traveling northbound and southbound now have a blinking yellow light giving them the right of way over drivers traveling eastbound, westbound or turning onto A1A from either direction. According to Florida Department of Transportation District 4 Project Administrator Diego Velasquez, the contractor has until the first week of June to complete the construction.
“Hopefully they will be able to complete it before then,” Velasquez said, adding that the fully activated traffic light will be operational no later than June 6.
Velasquez said video cameras will be used to detect when a vehicle is approaching the intersection.
Shores Public Safety Chief Rich Rosell said his department will help make the transition to the red light clear to drivers. “The plan is to put the variable message board out on the road a couple of weeks ahead of time,” Rosell said. “We will also have an officer in a marked police unit standing by for the first few days just to give warnings to people who might not stop at the new light.”
After that honeymoon period, running the red light will be a moving violation.
