Roundabout plans circle East County

APRIL FOOLS — Change is coming to East County intersections in a roundabout way.

After the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) gave the green light March 13 for creating a roundabout at the intersection of Rye Road and State Road 64, county officials and FDOT official Steven Speedman decided to take immediate action on the project.

Construction will start April 3 on the traffic decongestant, which Speedman and other FDOT officials say will help slow drivers down while also keeping traffic moving.

 “Roundabouts are easy to navigate,” Speedman said. “Everyone should know how to use them, and if they don’t, they better learn quickly.”

The pilot project is the first in a series.

FDOT and county officials are already drawing up plans for other roundabout sites throughout the area.

The next roundabout locations on FDOT and the county’s radar include intersections at Carlos E. Haile Middle School and S.R. 64; the entrance to the Heritage Harbour South community on State Road 64; and the intersections of S.R. 64 and State Road 70 with Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

Although officials plan to test the efficiency of the Rye Road project before prepping other nearby sites, Speedman expects the Haile Middle project to begin by the end of the year.

“We’ll probably take a test drive through the roundabout to make sure it’s safe and the appropriate signage is posted,” Speedman said. “But we really don’t need any more resident feedback on this or any other roundabout project out east.”
 

Speedman has other sites in mind, but he’s waiting to disclose any further information.

He expects roundabouts to become one of the most widely used traffic tools in East County, he said. FDOT isn’t ruling out replacing various traffic lights at various busy intersections with roundabouts.

Roundabouts help ease congestion, speeding and make potentially dangerous intersections, such as Rye Road and S.R. 64, safer, FDOT officials agreed.

Crossing guard Sarah Safewalker, who has helped students safely cross State Road 64 to Haile Middle School for 15 years, welcomes a roundabout in front of the local school.

A speeding driver ignored her stop sign and the school zone speed limit in January, and at the last minute swerved to avoid hitting her. The group of 10 children she helped cross just stepped onto the school’s sidewalk, she added.

But, Safewalker froze with fear in the middle of the busy intersection and was almost hit by a second speeding driver.

She hopes the planned roundabout will finally slow drivers down, as Speedman promised.

“We need this roundabout to help keep our children safe,” Safewalker said. “People whip through here and could easily hit one of my children — and I can’t let that happen. Besides, we live in a beautiful area. Why not just slow down and enjoy the view?”

Hopefully you made it to the end of the article, so we can say, Happy April Fools' Day! This story is not true.