Dangerous SWFL road getting safety improvements

Reporter: Annalise Iraola
Published: Updated:
safety
Palm Beach Blvd. sign. CREDIT: WINK News

The problem with Palm Beach Boulevard is that there’s more than one.

“In the morning, it can get pretty nasty. You got a lot of people pulling in pulling out course the condition of the road isn’t as great as some of the other roads in Fort Myers,” said Willie Webb, from Ryco Marine.

Webb works at a business on the road and sees these problems every day.

“A lot of people will just kind of Dart across trying to get over like by Marsh Avenue. It can get pretty ugly over there with pedestrians just randomly jumping out in traffic,” said Webb.

Pedestrian deaths from cars have been a reoccurring issue on the road. The problem is many of those pedestrian deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Jay Anderson, traffic safety professional and executive director of Stay Alive… Just Drive!

“Stop your motor vehicle and stay in the scene. Number one, number two, render aid and number three call for assistance. It’s so basic,” said Anderson.

He says the solution starts with drivers.

“It’s that mindset, because we’re not used to pedestrians, we don’t look for little things as drivers. We’re used to cars, trucks, not people. I think we need to put more emphasis on making the drivers aware of their responsibility when it comes to pedestrians in particular,” said Anderson.

The Florida Department of Transportation has a safety project in the works.

In that area on SR-80 from Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard to Kingston Drive.

FDOT says the project will upgrade six existing mid-block crosswalks to include pedestrian hybrid beacons and the latest signing and pavement marking safety treatment.

“Statistically, we found out that if we could implement these PHBs, (pedestrian highway beacons) we would reduce and probably even eliminate folks from serious injuries and even death by 69%,” said Janella Newsome, from FDOT.

For people who live and work on the boulevard, this safety project is one solution in the works.

“The infrastructure of the traffic is just gonna keep up with the growth of the city, and it’s growing very, very fast. So additions like this would be very, very good for the community,” said Webb.

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