In support of the upcoming FDOT resurfacing project with safety improvements along the US 192 corridor from I-95 to Babcock Street, the Florida Department of Transportation - District Five Safety Office and the Space Coast TPO will be hosting a local traffic safety outreach pop-up event, ‘Look Right. Save Lives.’ on March 29, 2023, from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. along US 192, near the Melbourne Square Mall, to educate motorists on the importance of looking right for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The resurfacing project will include safety improvements that are intended to provide safer environments for pedestrians and bicyclists along the corridor. Such improvements include restriping travel lanes in both directions to provide 6-foot-wide buffered bicycle lanes, realigning and upgrading crosswalks, and creating pedestrian refuges to decrease the distance pedestrians must travel to safety.

The corridor currently has a high number of bicycle and pedestrian crashes; particularly bicycle crashes that occur when drivers turn right onto US 192 from side streets and driveways and are not aware of the bicyclist approaching from the right on the sidewalk. More than 60% of bicycle crashes on US 192 from I-95 to Babcock Street are the result of motorists failing to look for bicyclists riding from the right on the sidewalk.

In the interim before construction begins for the resurfacing, FDOT District Five has launched a safety pilot project by installing sidewalk stencils to alert bicyclists to look for cars and in-pavement signs to alert side street drivers to look for bicyclists and pedestrians on the sidewalk. The outreach event on March 29, 2023, will raise awareness to drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists about this specific crash type, and provide general information on pedestrian/bicyclist safety.

As a true community effort, local law enforcement partners including Melbourne and West Melbourne Police Departments, along with the cities of Melbourne and West Melbourne, will be joining the outreach event efforts. Representatives from Health First Trauma Center and First Flight Air Medical Transport will also be present to share important safety information and risk prevention. For more information about the outreach event, please contact abby.hemenway@sctpo.com.