Drivers concerned with traffic improvements on U.S. 1 in Palm Shores: 'Should be reworked'

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Some drivers are being caught off guard and confused by new traffic changes happening on U.S. Highway 1 in Brevard County.

Bike lane separators are currently being installed in Palm Shores, from Post Road to Pineda Causeway. Some are asking the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to reconsider the design after they got in an accident and couldn’t get off the road.

The new separators, which span two miles on a busy stretch of U.S. 1 on the Space Coast, are hard to miss.  

"I think people are more in fear [of] driving down the road now," said Loretta Counts, who drives in the area. 

She’s also a mom who sounded the alarm after her daughter got in a car crash in the area this week and flipped nearly seven times in her car.  

"It’s just too crazy to have boulders right there. We should always have an escape route off of a road that busy," said Loretta’s daughter, Haley, who was in the accident. 

Haley says she couldn’t veer off the road when she tried to avoid a car abruptly coming into her lane on Monday.

"They’re just random. They’re just there for, I feel like, no reason. It’s very dangerous," said Haley.

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FOX 35 took these concerns to FDOT. The agency says the new separators are intentional. They're adding them because from 2017 to 2021, there were nearly 60 crashes in the two-mile stretch from Post Road to Pineda Causeway.

"It’s very shocking," said Loretta. "I didn’t even know there had been that many accidents in this area."

FDOT tells us it is putting the new separators in place specifically to slow drivers down. 

"If somebody was to have a blowout. If someone was to have a flat tire, there is nowhere for somebody to go," said Loretta. 

FDOT says it still needs to complete the project, such as resurfacing the road and adding striping and reflective pavement markers so drivers can see the changes. 

Loretta still thinks "it should be reworked."

Because of all the crashes, FDOT also lowered the speed limit down to 45 miles per hour.

Work should wrap up in the spring, and law enforcement is also planning to increase patrols in Palm Shores to try and prevent more accidents.