Traffic so bad drivers say it’s dangerous leaving their neighborhood. They think a traffic signal could fix the problem, but the state doesn’t agree.
There’s only one way to leave Stonebridge Country Club in West Boca Raton. Bart Price has to turn north or south onto State Road 7. Sometimes that means crossing six lanes of traffic.
Price said the speed limit to the north is 55 miles per hour and it switches to 45 miles per hour just before the entrance to Stonebridge. But he said cars rarely slow down.
He added there is a chaotic mess of cars crossing going north and south versus cars going into Stonebridge, or The Oaks, on the east side of State Road 7.
“I’ve seen so many near misses that I feel like I’m sitting in Laguardia at 2:00 in the afternoon,” Price said, referring to the busy New York City airport.
It's not the near misses that have residents like Price worked up. Last month two cars collided at the intersection, sending two people to the hospital with serious injuries.
“The whole community is up in arms and is ready to support anything we have to do to get that light,” Price explained.
The community asked the Florida Department of Transportation to install a traffic signal at the intersection.
An FDOT report showed the intersection doesn't meet the criteria necessary for a signal. Price doesn’t understand it.
“We’ll invite them to the hospital to visit some of our residents, if they continue to drag their feet on this,” he said.
An FDOT spokesperson said it will study the intersection again later this year, during the peak seasonal time of November or December. Depending on those results, the intersection could become eligible for a signal.
The president of Stonebridge’s Board of Governors said the state needs to do something soon because more development in the area is only adding to the problem.
“It will be horrific,” said Gail Izsak. “We can't get out at the present time, it will be that much worse later.”
FDOT and Palm Beach County use the same guidelines for determining whether an intersection needs a signal. The group from Stonebridge will continue to fight for their safety.