Project News

From the Ocala Star Banner

State eyes circle for SRs 40, 19 crossing

Published October 21. 2004 7:30AM

BY MABEL PEREZ and SUSAN LATHAM CARR
The Associated Press

OCALA — The Florida Department of Transportation will build a roundabout at the intersection of State Roads 40 and 19, where there have been 18 broadside crashes in a 3-year period.

"There are no others that I know of on a 55 mile-per-hour highway where you have to slow traffic down," said FDOT spokesman Steve Homan about the roundabout.

Although there is a roundabout in Clearwater, this will be the first roundabout in the state on a high-speed road.

A roundabout is a traffic control device in which two or more roads join together and traffic is directed into a circular area rather than traveling straight across the intersection.

After two fatal crashes at the SR 40 and SR 19 intersection in less than a week in February, engineers began looking at what could be done to make the roadway safer. There currently is a flashing red light facing SR 19 drivers heading north and south, and a yellow blinking light facing SR 40 drivers heading east and west through the intersection.

Engineers opted for the roundabout rather than a traffic signal.

"They don't believe a traffic signal, which is not warranted, would work," Homan said about the engineers. "This, basically, forces traffic to slow down."

Homan said that, based on Federal highway guidelines, the volume of traffic on the roadway is too low to warrant a traffic signal.

"What we are programming is $1.4 million," Homan said about the cost of the proposed paved, circular, one-lane roundabout. "We don't have a final estimate of what it is going to cost." He said the $1.4 million was chosen based on what roundabouts have cost in other states, such as in Maryland. The FDOT already owns the right of way.

Fred Ferrell, district traffic engineer from FDOT's District 5, said the roundabout should be built in the spring or summer of 2006. The blinking light currently at the site will be removed. Instead, there will be shrubbery placed in the center of the circle.

"There's going to be somebody who's not paying attention and will blow through it one day," Ferrell said about the center of the circle. "We don't want them to get hurt."

But he believes people will be able to maneuver around the circle with ease. The one circular lane will be 15 feet wide. The outside diameter of the roundabout is estimated at about 200 feet.

He said the intersection will be clearly marked and typical street lighting installed. Rumble strips will be added.

"There literally will be overhead signs that will have flashing lights on it," Ferrell said. "We will also have paved markings."

And the speed will be lowered from about 60 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour in all directions in the quarter-mile approach to the intersection.

Ferrell said engineers have been perplexed by the large number of crashes at this rural intersection.

"This happened year, after year, after year," Ferrell said about the crashes. "It's not something textbook defined. That's why we selected something different to fix it."

Ferrell said that a second roundabout will be built about the same time at the intersection of SR 40 and SR 11 in Volusia County, where a similar situation exists.

While FDOT engineers were breaking the news about the new roundabouts, the State Road 40 Collaborative Process Task Force was meeting in Marion County to try to find a way to meet safely the future transportation needs along the SR 40 corridor while balancing the environmental needs of the sensitive lands that abut the roadway.

The Task Force met Wednesday at Central Florida Community College to consider several questions.

Questions varied from the number of bears killed on the road, the number of fatalities and traffic accidents, what improvements could be made that would cause the least amount of trauma to the environment and to the driver, direct correlation to speed and mortality rates of wildlife and the number of law enforcement needed for the area.

The general consensus suggested that State Road 40 would only be widened west of County Road 314. Areas east of this intersection, according to FDOT, do not need widening, because traffic numbers do not justify a four-lane road. Creative improvements, though, could be made to lower traffic accidents and speeding that could also pose a lesser risk to wildlife.

Some members suggested amenities like rest areas, a welcome center, hiking and/or trailhead areas which would cause people to slow down.

"This is real progress," said Rafael Montalvo, associate director of the Florida Conflict Resolution. "We have the outline of something that everybody can agree on."

Montalvo has been helping facilitate the task force meetings, which began in October, and will continue to do so until the examination process and plans are refined. Various governmental and nongovernmental interest groups, along with State Road 40 residents, make up the task force.

At the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 4, task force members, who were assigned to research various concerns, will update the group with more detailed answers. It included groups assigned to research law enforcement activity in the area, habitat and/or wildlife impact and mitigation.

Funding was also a concern for some task force members who feel the group needs to find resources other than their respective agencies.

Charles Lee of the Audubon of Florida said the group should begin to look at additional partners, besides themselves, who can contribute financially to the project, and suggested a regional mitigation bank.

"(We should look at) dimensions of a regional strategical campaign effort," he said urging task force members to look toward the legislature and other private groups for funding.

Others felt outside funding should only be sought if the State Road 40 coalition, and respective agencies, can't come up with the money themselves.

Mabel Perez may be reached at mabel.perez@starbanner.com or 867-4106. Susan Latham Carr may be reached at susan.carr@starbanner.com.