It’s important for Port St. Lucie motorists to be able to get onto Interstate 95 northbound at Crosstown Parkway and get off at St. Lucie West Boulevard, several City Council members said Monday.
Consequently, the council voted unanimously to ask Florida Department of Transportation to scrap long-term plans to construct “braided ramps” on I-95 between the Crosstown Parkway and St. Lucie West Boulevard interchanges. “It’s a lose-lose situation,” Mayor Greg Oravec said about the proposed braided ramps because they will harm intra-city travel and create noise issues.
Port St. Lucie officials hope to discuss the braided ramp issue with FDOT officials during a meeting on June 24 at the St. Lucie County Transportation Planning Organization office.
Traffic congestion is projected to reach unacceptable levels on I-95 northbound between St. Lucie West Boulevard and Crosstown Parkway and on the exit and entrance ramps by 2030, an FDOT report says.
FDOT proposed constructing a ramp from Crosstown Parkway onto I-95 that would flyover the exit ramp from the highway onto St. Lucie West Boulevard, the report says. That would alleviate traffic congestion through 2045.
I-95 southbound would need braided ramps between St. Lucie West Boulevard and Crosstown Parkway by 2045 when traffic congestion is expected to degrade to unacceptable levels, the report says.
But those braided ramps will never be built if Oravec and the City Council have their way.
“With the braided ramps, it really shuts down local mobility because you would not be able to take Crosstown to St. Lucie West,” Oravec said.
“Additionally, with a braided ramp, you would have to elevate a lane of traffic,” Oravec said. “That means that you’re going to sound propagation at-height, versus at-grade, which I think is also deleterious to the residents of Port St. Lucie.”
Councilman John Carvelli, who represents St. Lucie West, agreed.
“I think the noise issue will be as critical as cutting off the trips between the two exits,” Carvelli said.
“It’s going to be an elevated roadway and the noise could get pretty bad, especially in Lake Charles.”
Motorists traveling between Crosstown Parkway and St. Lucie West Boulevard would have to use California Boulevard or Cashmere Boulevard, instead of I-95, if the braided ramps are built.
“It puts all the pressure on California, or Cashmere, eventually,” Carvelli said.
Councilman Stephanie Morgan said, “I’m so against this braiding idea.”
Morgan disputed a contention in a June 4 FDOT memo that the braided ramps would have a “relatively minor” impact on traffic on California Boulevard and Commerce Centre Drive.
Morgan also said she shared her concerns with a high ranking FDOT official.
“I let him know how unhappy I was with the brading suggestion … and that we had heard from several residents with their displeasure with it,” Morgan said.
City Transportation Administrator Heath Stockton said he would try to come up with alternatives to the braided ramp concept to pitch to FDOT.
“They’re looking at our population growth and saying, ‘You have a minor issue now,’” Stockton said. “Well in 10 years, it’s going to be a much larger issue. So, they’re just trying to get ahead of that.”
Roughly 80,500 vehicles travel on I-95 daily between the Martin County line and St. Lucie West Boulevard, FDOT records show. About 71,500 vehicles per day travel between St. Lucie West Boulevard and Midway Road.