ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - – Ormond Beach residents are getting the chance to hear from the Department of Transportation Wednesday night about its plans to improve the I-95 and US-1 interchange.
It’s something residents have been pushing for decades.
The city told News 6 that over 80 crashes have happened in this interchange over the last three years.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
“It was built in the 1960s and hasn’t been upgraded since then, and look how much we’ve changed. We’ve grown four times the amount of people since 1960,” said resident Peggy Farmer.
It’s the gateway to Volusia County if heading south on I-95.
Farmer, a long-time Ormond Beach resident, started the “north US-1″ coalition, a group of residents that’s been pushing the state to change this interchange for almost two decades.
“As all of this traffic has come off of I-95 to come into Destination Daytona, the light stops them and it backs up all the way onto the main road,” she said.
Now, FDOT is looking to upgrade it into a diverging diamond interchange.
Back in September, News 6 reported the state announced that it would be speeding up the timeline by about ten years to now start making improvements to the interchange in 2027.
Now, FDOT is showing the renderings and plans to turn it into the diverging diamond with the hope to put an end to long lights and improve safety.
“We’ve got the truck stop with all of the trucks, Destination Daytona, we’ve got Bike Week,” Farmer said.
FDOT also plans to widen US-1 and create more mixed-use space.
Farmer said this could l also help bring in more large companies to the area.
“US-1 is going to be six lanes. We have a lot of potential growth out there. This is going to help our economy,” she said.
The funding for this nearly $257 million project is coming from the governor’s “Move Florida Forward” initiative.
If it stays on the timeline of starting in 2027, construction should be done by 2030.