- April 23, 2024
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Dear Editor:
Has anyone but me noticed the amount of traffic in Palm Coast? The city is turning into a giant parking lot during the day.
Palm Coast Parkway’s a mess: one green light followed by a red light and so it goes. It took me three lights to turn onto Old Kings Road — totally unacceptable!
Now we add school buses, weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes to turn, while cutting cars off. Why are we not addressing this problem, before more and more cars come to town? You can't keep adding homes, apartments, without fixing our infrastructure. These narrow streets — two lanes where they should have four — will not hold up. They were not designed for all these cars. Heavy dump trucks speed through the city, crushing streets to crumbles, and potholes. They even took out my mailbox!
When the mayor and City Council wake up to this problem, it will be too late, and we will have massive road construction going on during the next few years — on and on, while all the newcomers sit with us for hours in the Palm Coast parking lot.
Dennis C. Rathsam
Palm Coast
Editor’s Note: We asked the city of Palm Coast for more information about Dennis Rathsam’s concern, and here is the city’s response:
“Currently a capital project on Old Kings Road is underway through a coordinated effort with the city of Palm Coast and the Florida Department of Transportation. … A grant was received from FDOT to fund the majority of the project. … The result of this project, expected to be completed by the end of this month, will be an improvement to the flow of traffic through that area.
“The project consists of widening and resurfacing Old Kings Road from a two-lane undivided roadway to a four-lane divided roadway with a raised and curbed grass median and 8-foot sidewalks. There will also be additional turn lanes added to empty traffic onto Palm Coast Parkway. The traffic lights will be reconfigured to allow for the intersection to follow an enhanced traffic pattern in order to allow traffic to flow more efficiently. …
“The city of Palm Coast contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for enhanced services in Palm Coast and, as such, the sheriff provides a dedicated Traffic Unit ‘to ensure the safety of the motoring public and allow for an orderly and expeditious flow of traffic.’
“If there are other matters of concern, we encourage all residents to use PalmCoastConnect so city staff can further evaluate and respond to concerns. Customer Service is also available at 386-986-2360 or [email protected]."
