ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – After decades of residents pushing for a change, the Florida Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it will create a new interchange at I-95 and US-1 in Ormond Beach.
Close to 80 accidents have happened on the interchange in the last three years, many ending fatally, according to the city.
“It’s the most dangerous with the most accidents with fatalities in all of Volusia and Flagler,” said longtime resident Peggy Farmer. “The traffic just backs up here trying to get on and off I-95 and it’s an area a lot of locals avoid.”
Farmer started the “North US-1 Coalition” which is a group of residents who have been asking the state for this project for close to two decades.
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The interchange is the gateway to Volusia County if traveling south on I-95. It was built in the 1960s and hasn’t changed since. It’s one of the oldest in Florida and was created well before large businesses like Love’s Truck Stop and Destination Daytona were built right off of it.
“The curve of the exits with the 18-wheelers is very dangerous for them. Secondly, this is Destination Daytona. This is where we have Bike Week and Biketoberfest,” said Farmer.
FDOT leaders held a meeting in Ormond Beach Tuesday to make its announcement.
“It should be somewhere in the $340 million range. That’s what they’ve budgeted for,” said Mayor Bill Partington.
The money will be coming from the state’s “Moving Florida Forward Infrastructure Initiative.”
The current design’s goal is to improve the traffic flow with a diverging diamond pattern. It’ll also include shared use and paved walking and cycling paths on both sides of US-1.
Partington said construction will start in the fall of 2027 and should be done by 2030.
“There’s a lot of design work, a lot of rights-of-way, all kinds of things that have to be done before the actual construction starts,” he said.
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