Fix Sugarloaf traffic issue early

In less than a year, the state Department of Transportation will begin a resurfacing project that will encompass nearly everything from the east end of Baypoint to the east end of Sugarloaf Key.

For those of us who drive that road on a regular basis, and particularly those who drive that road daily for work or other requirements, the word of a major resurfacing in that area comes as pleasant news.

And make no mistake that anyone who travels that road is appreciative that it will no longer ride like an old-fashioned washboard.

But there are also other issues at work here.

Sugarloaf Shores residents have been asking for years for someone to take a look at the traffic situation in front of their subdivision.

They of course started with the county, thinking that the request would get passed on to the state DOT. And it may have. But if it did, that word didn’t make much of an impression.

The concerns of the residents are valid and well-researched. We must remember that US 1 is the both the primary thoroughfare for residential traffic in the area and the business district access. It is also the throughway for visitors to the remainder of the Lower Keys.

The entrance road to Sugarloaf Shores is directly across US 1 from the largest, and only, commercial complex on Lower Sugarloaf Key.

There are no traffic control devices on US 1 anywhere near the vicinity of the residential access point, meaning drivers aren’t forced to slow down for any legal reason when approaching.

The ingress and egress points for the commercial complex are outlined by the roadside signs in front of the businesses there. There are no curbs, no landscaping, no rumble strips or any other manner of delineation for where vehicles can enter or exit the complex.

There aren’t even signs denoting enter or exit to regulate traffic flow.

So what we get are drivers who will whip off the highway at either entry point, and use the parking lots for an access road.

They do the same when exiting the complex, using any open area as a staging area to wait for a break in US 1 traffic.

When that break occurs, cars zip out onto the highway, either northbound or southbound. And there waits a resident in their vehicle across the street trying to find a way to turn onto the highway, either direction.

If they both choose the same traffic break, usually crushed metal is the result.

And yet FDOT has not made any plans to address these issues with the new resurfacing project. The agency intends to mill and fill the existing surface, on the existing footprint.

That will not solve the issue.

The county needs to open a dialogue with DOT now. We’re told that such a dialogue has been opened, but nothing has as yet been spoken.

FDOT is well aware of its responsibility for the safety of the motoring public, and this area is far from safe.

The residents have a good plan they just need a champion to push the plan on FDOT. The county needs to be that champion.

Staffers were directed by the Board of County Commissioners a few months ago to come up with a plan to address this issue before the contractors began laying asphalt.

That time approaches quickly.

Now is not the time to procrastinate.

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