Five improvement projects for walking and bike paths planned for Coral Springs

Pedestrians and cyclists are expected to have an easier time navigating Coral Springs with a handful of planned improvement projects.

City planners and consultants looked at traffic and crash data, fielded citizen complaints and walked the city to identify five areas to improve mobility, connectivity and ADA access for those not traveling by vehicle.

The city came up with a list of corridors of concern, then associates with Kimley-Horn, a planning and design consulting firm, looked at the data and walked around Coral Springs to get a boots-on-the-ground assessment of the highest priority areas.

The areas being considered for improvements:

• Royal Palm Boulevard from Sportsplex Drive to Coral Springs Drive
• NW 33rd Street from NW 99th Way to Coral Hills Drive
• NW 40th Street from University Drive to Riverside Drive
• Ramblewood Drive from Riverside Drive to Atlantic Boulevard
• Coral Hills Drive from Sample Road to Wiles Road

The city hosted an open forum Feb. 19 to allow residents to give input on the plans. The projects are still in the planning phase, meaning it’s likely going to be a couple years before crews would break ground.

The projects will be funded through a penny tax approved by Broward voters in 2018 that increased the sales tax from 6% to 7%, with the additional revenue going toward funding transportation and mobility projects.

Part of the local improvements include adding sidewalks, widening them and replacing asphalt pathways with concrete.

The Royal Palm segment is part of the planned Everglades Memorial Loop, a proposed 10.7-mile path that would connect the levee on the west side of the Sawgrass Expressway canal to other parts of the city. The proposed changes include slimming the vehicle lanes by 1 foot and putting in 8-foot-wide sidewalks for shared use with pedestrians and cyclists.

The 33rd Street improvements near Broward Health Coral Springs were encouraged by the Community Redevelopment Agency, which is spearheading changes to the downtown mixed-used area, according to city planners. As more businesses are expected to come to that area, the city is putting in walking paths to provide greater connectivity when the time comes.

The Coral Hills Drive section doesn’t have a ton of traffic and is typically used as a cut-through from Sample to Wiles or for residents who live there, so people might feel safe walking in the road, consultants and public works officials said.

But they’re looking to get people out of the road by adding sidewalks and roundabouts to slow traffic. It would also help those walking to the Chabad of Coral Springs on University Drive, just east of Coral Hills.

On 44th Street, where residents have complained of speeding, additions include a bumpout to slow vehicles. Sidewalks will be replaced with concrete.

And on Ramblewood Drive, the asphalt sidewalks will be converted to concrete and widened to 8 feet. The construction would also have to address draining and driveway “harmonization,” since the area is largely residential, public works officials said.