DELAND, Fla. — Woodland Boulevard is the main drag in DeLand, and now traffic engineers want to make changes to the roadway through much of the city.

What You Need To Know

  • Florida Department of Transportation officials say they plan to make changes to Woodland Boulevard (U.S. 17/92) in DeLand from Taylor Road to International Speedway Boulevard

  • FDOT data show that 1,623 crashes happened on this stretch of the roadway from April 2017 to April 2023

  • Improvements include plans to meander the roadway alignment, close and modify median openings, and add highly visible pedestrian crossings

“Traffic out here is like a runway, a speedway,” said Allen Washington, who co-owns Supreme Beauty Supply off Woodland Boulevard, also known as U.S. 17/92.

Washington says speeding has led to dangerous conditions in front of his shop.

“We saw a gentleman get hit by a car while he was attempting to cross the road to go to the other side,” said Washington. “And he stepped out and got killed, literally maybe less than 1,000 feet from the store.”

Florida Department of Transportation officials say data show that Woodland Boulevard is a dangerous stretch of road.

From Taylor Road to International Speedway Boulevard, FDOT officials said 1,623 crashes have happened on Woodland Boulevard from April 2017 to April 2023.

They also said that in those crashes, 10 people were killed and 47 of them involved pedestrians.

FDOT officials say they are planning to split up Woodland Boulevard into three separate projects.

To get drivers to slow down, they plan to meander the roadway alignment, increase landscaping and add curb and gutters.

To reduce crashes, FDOT officials want to close and modify median openings to limit the number of conflict points.

They also want to build mid-block crossings with pedestrian hybrid beacons and rapid flashing beacons to reduce the number of jaywalkers and make it safer to cross the road.

“There are a lot of individuals that use this as a raceway, and I think with the modifications they’re looking to make, with the updates they’re looking to make, I think it should help prevent a lot of accidents,” said Washington.

The first segment of the project, from Taylor Road to Beresford Avenue, is expected to cost $4.5 million.

The second segment, from Beresford Avenue to Plymouth Avenue, is the only section currently under construction. The total for that work is estimated to be $800,000.

The third segment, from Plymouth Avenue to International Speedway Boulevard, is expected to cost $2.8 million.