Project News

From the Ocala Star Banner

Article published Mar 14, 2004
The State of State Road 40
Study looks at how to improve safety on crash-prone road

OCALA - A consultant has given area transportation planners a list of safety improvements to consider on a 26-mile stretch of State Road 40 where 18 people have died in traffic accidents since January 2000.

Now the Ocala/Marion County Metropolitan Planning Organization must decide which improvements Kimley-Horn and Associates, a Raleigh, N.C.,-based engineering consultant, should plan for with the $83,500 left from $100,000 in state funding.

"We're looking to reduce the overall number of crashes and, hopefully as a part of that, reduce the fatal ones as well," MPO Director Greg Slay said.

In Phase 1 of the MPO-directed study, Kimley-Horn found a need for additional signs and detailed analyses of lanes, driveways and traffic lights on SR 40 from Silver Springs to the Marion-Lake county line. The two-lane highway has several three-lane passing zones.

The MPO board - a local, multi-agency panel - will vote on the draft of the study on March 30.

To get ready for Phase 2 - actually doing the analysis and planning - the MPO staff and Kimley-Horn are looking at priorities and what they can afford.

"I am not sure we will be able to get the permitting and design process through with the money we have," said Jonathan Thigpen, project manager with Kimley-Horn.

The Florida Department of Transportation would make the safety improvements following Phase 2.

FDOT spokesman Steve Homan said the department will examine the findings of the completed study. It will decide what new funding and changes are worth the costs.

"We're going to review the results of the study," Homan said.
"Certainly, we'll look at the merits of it. We'll have to take a look and make a decision on what's going to make a difference, a positive difference."

He said signs are the most likely improvement.

"Signage is really a low-cost issue," he said. "If you get into display issues, that may be a little more expensive . . . but not cost-prohibitive."

In contrast, signals, and lane and driveway improvements are expensive, FDOT officials said.

Slay estimated Phase 2 of the study to take about six months. Then, FDOT officials said, they'll do what they can.

In its Phase 1 draft, Kimley-Horn lists recommendations and issues to be
resolved:

Sign changes, including signs that tell drivers how fast they're going, consistent passing zone signs, blinking signal-ahead signs, more warnings of limited sight distances and more speed limit signs.

Driveways too close to the crash-prone intersection with County Road 314 should be closed or changed. The intersection was a high-crash spot in 2000 and 2001, with more than eight crashes a year.

The draft recommends closing driveways for Texaco and BP gas stations adjacent to the intersection. That would leave both stations with one driveway along SR 40.

Dave Patel, who runs the Texaco, was ambivalent about the recommendations.

"That is a good idea to close the driveway for safety," he said, "but it is probably going to hurt because it's a lot of convenience for people going in and out."

At County Road 314A, cars traveling west may be safer if a left turn signal were to be installed and the turn lane were to be made longer. On the east side of the intersection, a Kangaroo gas station, diner and liquor store face a shopping center with a Winn-Dixie, Eckerd and AmSouth Bank.

"Access management" - looking at medians, curbs and gutters, and placement of driveways - is needed for 1,000 feet in either direction of that intersection.

Planners should consider a traffic light at Southeast 169th Terrace Road/170th Avenue and examine the limits of the passing zone there.

At the intersection, a Chevron gas station hides behind trees across SR 40 from Silver Lakes Acres, a small, lakeside neighborhood. A westbound passing lane ends there, causing conflict as some cars slow down to turn and others speed up to pass.

Torre Hollis, a gas station attendant at the Chevron, agrees with the recommendations.

"They do need to put a light there," she said. A couple months ago, Hollis said, she witnessed three accidents in one weekend.

The study also found that a dip in SR 40 on the east side of the 169th intersection limits the line of sight.

Planners should consider a traffic light at State Road 19 - which now has a flashing light - and address limited sight distance there with better signs. Planners should also consider blinking signs on SR 19 that warn if traffic is approaching on SR 40.

They should look into the need for a turn lane at SR 40 and Southwest 183rd Avenue Road.

Using FDOT money, the MPO authorized the study last year, which did not consider widening SR 40, but instead looked to shorter-term safety improvements. Kimley-Horn also did not study road surface issues, because FDOT is repaving the road.

Phase 1, which was completed in February, found that 330 crashes occurred from January 2000 to December 2003. Ten of those resulted in a total of 15 fatalities.

Another three people were killed in crashes on SR 40 this year, including two at State Road 19. The FDOT is doing its own investigation of the SR 19 intersection and expects to have a preliminary report by month's end.

Slay said the MPO assumed in 2002 that $100,000 would be sufficient for the entire study and requested that amount from the FDOT.

Now, with the need for many improvements and further assessments, Slay
said: "We'll do as much as we can, and it will probably be up to the DOT to do the rest of them."

Victor O. Obaseki can be reached at (352) 867-4140.