Several readers submitted letters to Ocala-News.com to share their thoughts on the abundance of traffic in Ocala.
“I’m a native Ocalan who has lived in other big cities. Upon returning, I’ve noticed that the area is growing but the roads have not. Someone highlighted the Silver Springs Shores area. Well, the Marion Oaks area is worse, and both have a huge population of people. There are no roads and no real infrastructure to expand any. We are desperate for new county engineers to utilize some of the tax money for building new roads that are not beyond congested. Silver Springs and Marion Oaks are awful. These residents need to demand better use of their tax money,” says Ocala resident Shay Wilson.
“The person that wants Maricamp Road to have additional lanes added on is correct, but they failed to mention that in its current state it needs to be patrolled daily for speeders. It is a speedway with daily major accidents,” says Nancy Castro, Ocala resident.
“Ocala is the second fastest growing city in the United States. This just didn’t happen last week. The city managers and highway planners better wake up. I-75 needs to be widened from the proposed new exit north of the 27th exit to the split between Florida Turnpike and I-75 to Tampa,” says Ocala resident Robert McClure.
“I live in Ocala, right on 35th Street, which has become a highway to nonresidential traffic. I moved into this area about 5 years ago and traffic was normal – no issues whatsoever. But with the increase in population, it has become a nightmare. I can’t even get out of my driveway. While residents of this area are having a hard time getting in or out of their driveway, random drivers are racing and driving well above the 35 mph posted speed limit. We need help as many of us have children in this area and bus stops that these random drivers can’t seem to respect either,” says Carmen Diaz, Ocala resident.