At December 5th, 2017 Regular Council Meeting, Councilman Rodriguez requested for Town Staff to look into the feasibility of expanding the westbound left turn lanes at the Miami Lakes Drive and SR 826/Palmetto Expressway intersection. The purpose of this improvement would be to extend the westbound left turn lane underneath the Palmetto Expressway to add additional queuing space for vehicles wishing to go south on the Palmetto Expressway and to allow for better movement on the westbound through lanes.

Following the Council Meeting, Town Staff coordinated with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to analyze the feasibility of the requested improvement. The analysis showed that currently, westbound NW 154th Street within the proposed project area contains two 12' westbound through lanes and a 28' median that accommodates the middle piers from the Palmetto Expressway overpass bridge and turns to a dual westbound left turn lane approximately 240' west of the Palmetto northbound off-ramp. The existing dual westbound left turn lanes measure 300' in length and as a result FDOT advised, that there are two possible improvements, which can be done to help alleviate traffic in this area:

• Option 1- proposes to extend the outer left turn lane by 180' to open up at the beginning of the west leg of the intersection at NW 154th Street and NW 77th Avenue.

• Option 2- includes the improvement identified under Option 1 and adds an additional through lane by cutting into the existing median on NW 154th Street and NW 77th Avenue to provide additional queue space for vehicles going southbound onto the Palmetto Expressway. Furthermore, proceeding with Option 2 would have impacts the Town's entrance feature and beautification efforts.

Please refer to the conceptual image attached for an illustration of both recommendations.

Current traffic data recently collected by one of the Town's traffic consultants, shows that 20% of vehicles traveling westbound through this intersection use the westbound left turn lanes to go south onto the Palmetto Expressway and that often the westbound left-turn lanes are blocked by westbound traffic during AM and PM peak hour periods. In addition, by extending the single left turn lane under Option 1 by 180', an additional 8 vehicles can access the left turn lane, thus freeing up space from the westbound through lane.

Based on the available data, it is recommended to proceed with Option 1. Option 1 will provide enough capacity to allow the 20% of vehicles traveling westbound through this intersection access the westbound left turn lanes onto Palmetto southbound without being blocked. In addition, it will free up vehicles from the westbound through lanes, thus increasing the flow of traffic.

The estimated cost for the recommended improvement is about $350,000 and is broken down as follows:
• Design and Permitting- $50,000
• Construction- $300,000

Funding for this project has not been identified.