Local residents and city officials have issued various criticisms of recent changes to State Road 200, suggesting the Florida Department of Transportation has created more congestion in an attempt to “enhance safety” through the installation of raised concrete medians.
During last week’s regular meeting of the Ocala City Council, both Mayor Ben Marciano and Kristen Dreyer, the council president, took a moment to emphasize that the upgrades to SW College Road/State Road 200 are managed by the state (i.e., FDOT), and not the city.
Dreyer made special note to suggest the city had helped resolve issues despite not being responsible for the roadway.
“There has been some issues that our staff has addressed. Thank you for acknowledging what those issues were and making sure FDOT changed them swiftly in the interest of public safety,” said Dreyer to City Manager Pete Lee.
“It’s not our road, but when they screw it up, they’re going to hear from us,” said Dreyer. “When they screw it up worse then they have.”
In recent weeks, Ocala-News.com has received comments and letters from readers about various state-operated roadwork projects across the city.
“I just don’t understand the reasoning behind putting concrete islands in the middle of the roadway. This forces longer lines of vehicles wanting to get to a business on the other side of the road to have to go to a traffic light to make a u-turn. Why make it harder to get to a place that was easier to get to from a turn lane,” reads a letter from Karen Perkins of Ocala.
Perkins says she has seen “up to 17 people at the light on SW 27 Avenue and SR 200 run that light without even slowing down.”
“So what needs to be done to keep this from happening? I don’t know,” said Perkins in her letter.
According to FDOT, Project 439234-1 calls for the implementation of safety and operational enhancements along SR 200. The state says the new, raised concrete medians and segmented left-turn lanes throughout the corridor are meant to “permanently reduce crossover movements to various businesses along the corridor.”
Additionally, the state believes the changes should “reduce conflict points while encouraging safer driving speeds.”
In addition to the medians and turn lanes, pedestrian hybrid beacons are being installed between several of the roadway’s intersections.
In February, the state held an open house to explain the changes.
Outside of the upgrades to the roadway and the public’s adverse reaction, SR 200 has seen a dramatic increase in traffic stops this year.
Earlier this week, Ocala Police Department Chief Mike Balken reported that over 1,000 traffic stops had been conducted over the first two weeks of the month, bringing the year’s total to over 10,000. The vast majority of those stops have been along Ocala’s most popular thoroughfare.
In addition to the construction updates, several developments are in various stages along the roadway, including a new Miller’s Ale House under construction, a new U-Haul facility that opened recently, a townhome development that opened last year, a new car dealership under construction,
What are your thoughts on the recent changes to State Road 200? Share them in a comment or, if you have more to say, write a letter to the editor.