Boca Raton to Begin Design of Spanish River Boulevard Underpass

Spanish River Boulevard near the El Rio Trail crossing, Aug. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Boca Raton’s city council has awarded a contract to a consulting firm that will move the long-awaited Spanish River Boulevard underpass project from a conceptual phase to its design phase.

The project, first initiated in 2020 as part of the city’s comprehensive plan, calls for the construction of an underpass at the El Rio Trail crossing along Spanish River in order to protect pedestrians and cyclists from busy traffic in the corridor that originated with the I-95/FAU interchange.

Currently, the El Rio Trail crosswalk on Spanish River Boulevard has been relocated east to NW 6th Way instead of directly crossing the busy – and widened – roadway. Initially, the state Department of Transportation installed flashing beacons at the El Rio Trail crosswalk, but they were deemed inadequate to protect pedestrians. Moving the crossing to NW 6th Way takes walkers, joggers and cyclists off the trail, but allows them to cross at a signalized intersection and return to the trail on the other side of the roadway.

Spanish River Boulevard near the El Rio Trail crossing, Aug. 2025. (Credit: City of Boca Raton)

Spanish River Boulevard near the El Rio Trail crossing, Aug. 2025. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Numerous solutions have been studied since the new interchange was unveiled, including the underpass, which is the direction in which officials have decided to proceed. The latest contract with Stantec Consulting Services provides $249,442 for the design of the underpass infrastructure and modified trail pathway approaches. The firm will provide designs, preparation of the final engineering analysis and calculations to support the construction plans.

Officials have said the underpass project could take between three and five years to evolve from its conceptual phase to completion.