'Lane drop' causes major problems on I-95 at Griffin Road

FDOT says lane that drops will eventually be extended to Palm Beach County

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. ā€“ The Florida Department of Transportation said modifications have been made to an area of Interstate 95 that many drivers call confusing and dangerous.

Local 10 News has been highlighting the issue on I-95 northbound at Griffin Road since the express lanes opened.

Just north of the Griffin Road exit, one of the express lanes disappears, forcing high speed traffic in that left lane to abruptly merge right.

Traffic engineers call it a "lane drop."

Drivers said the situation causes a bottleneck that backs up traffic where it never existed before.

There was another crash in that spot Friday morning, causing I-95 to be shut down and traffic to be backed up for miles during the morning rush hour.

"We've put additional pavement markings down, so that people are aware earlier that there is a merge. We 've improved the signage in the express lanes," FDOT spokeswoman Barbara Kellher said.

The FDOT said the lane that drops will eventually be extended all the way up to Palm Beach County, but construction isn't expected to begin until 2020.

Florida's Integrated Report Exchange System is a database that tracks crashes.

From January to September 2015, before the merge, there were a total of 35 total crashes and 16 injuries in the area.

This year, there have been 56 crashes and 47 injuries in the same spot.

"Adding the other lane is, you know, the best answer. ... We're actively trying to bring that adjacent construction in earlier, to move that up to happen sooner," Kellher said.