Officials Hope Upgrades To Turnpike, Alley Will Make Roads Safer
POSTED: Friday, September 1, 2006
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Millions will be spent in the coming year to make highways in the state of Florida safer.
Both Florida's Turnpike and Alligator Alley will be getting upgrades that state officials hope will prevent crossover accidents and detect cars that crash into canals.
The Florida Department of Transportation will be constructing guardrails in the median of the Turnpike in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and installing cable sensors along the parallel canal banks.
Cameras are already being installed along Alligator Alley and inside shoulder lanes are being widened to 12 feet to give drivers more room in the event they need to pull over.
"Public safety is Florida's No. 1 priority," said state Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, who sponsored the legislation that secured more than $13 million for the creation of the Alexander Ware Canal and Cable Barrier System. "Whether it's preventing vehicles from going into canals or preventing cars from crossing over medians into oncoming traffic, these cables and guardrails will save thousands of lives."
The program is named in honor of Alexander Ware, a boy who died when his mother's car crashed into a Palm Beach County canal in 2002.
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