By ANNE SPENCER
Jackson County Floridan News Editor
January 28, 2008

A concern about traffic safety at the entrance to a Marianna subdivision is greater now that the Veterans Administration has announced it will open a medical clinic there.
The Camellia Acres Homeowners Association has asked for a turn lane on U.S. Highway 90 into Woods View Drive, but the Florida Department of Transportation District 3 has denied their request.

DOT says any turn lane is the responsibility of the developer, the homeowners' association, or the owners of the Fitness Center, which is one of the original businesses in the neighborhood.

The other original business was a physician's office, and when it was open, it and the Fitness Center shared a private unnamed drive. Now after years of being empty, the doctor's building will become the VA clinic, but in the intervening years the subdivision opened and built out.

Residents of 31 homes now use Woods View Drive, which becomes one and the same as the private drive at the highway.

Lorena Argo, the president of the homeowners association, says the residents were already afraid of a serious accident and now with the VA clinic coming they're scared even more.

"We want the VA clinic," Argo said. "It just brings more traffic."

Argo described the problem.

When Camellia Acres residents return home in the eastbound lane of the road that is only two lanes at this spot, they often have to stop in their lane before turning left because of traffic headed west into town.

One danger is that the speed limit is 55 miles per hour, "and if you're not watching what you do, they'll plow right into you," Argo said.

Another danger is that the motorists behind the stopped cars sometimes get so agitated at waiting that they bypass on the right shoulder.

"You'll have people behind you pulling around, so they won't have to wait till you can turn," Argo said. "You just hold your breath. You have traffic coming at you headed to Marianna and you'll have people going behind you."

She said she'd heard the VA might build a turn lane for its clinic, but VA Service Officer John Turner said he had not heard of this.

The homeowners association tried to get a turn lane through a petition last year. The association had 175 residents sign a petition to District 3 DOT and on Nov. 1 sent copies to state Sen. Al Lawson Jr., state Rep. Marti Coley and Jackson County Commissioner Milton Pittman.

The County Commission then asked District 3 DOT Secretary Larry Kelley to review traffic congestion. The county cited an increase in residency at Camellia Acres and increased use of the Fitness Center.

At the time the VA had not announced its choice of a site.

A letter accompanying the petition called attention to what Argo calls "accident after accident."

The letter said in part, "Our concern continues to increase with each accident that happens at the entrance to Woods View Drive from Highway 90 ... ."

It continued, "We are well aware that two deaths occurred before a turn lane was put in at the Indian Springs (subdivision) entrance from Highway 90. This is just a short distance from our intersection. We don't want that to happen at the Woods View Drive entrance."

In the letter, Argo asked: "What is the value placed on human lives by our political/ public officials? Must someone die before action is taken to prevent accidents at this intersection ...?" and "Where should political/ public officials be held accountable, at the ballot box, in the Courts, or both?"

The letter concluded, "Our collective desire is that no person should die or sustain an injury at this intersection due to neglect of this safety issue."

Kelley replied to the letter and petition on Nov. 29. He said a study was done in March 1995 and a recommendation made for an eastbound left turn lane. "However," he continued, "in accordance with the Department's policy regarding access permits, it was communicated to the Camellia Acres Homeowners Association that the design and construction of the left turn lane would be the responsibility of the developer ..."

His answer continued, "It was also separately conveyed in March 2000 that traffic flow at this location would be improved if Woods View Drive and the adjacent unnamed entrance to the medical clinic/ fitness center were combined to provide a shared driveway."

He said the merging of the two entrances would also be "the responsibility of the private parties involved."

Kelley's reply then addressed the most recent DOT study, done on Nov. 16, 2007, and an analysis of it. He said a review of collisions for a 60-month period ending Nov. 8, 2007 "did not reveal a safety problem correctable by the presence of an eastbound left turn lane," yet based on an analysis he recommended a left turn lane with 100 feet of storage.

He repeated, however, that a turn lane was not DOT's responsibility. He also pled problem enough preserving the roadway.

"The State of Florida has been experiencing a severe shortfall in State revenue for transportation projects," Kelley wrote. "For that reason, we have not been able to accomplish as much in conjunction with roadway projects."

The district secretary said it was hard enough for DOT to preserve the roadway "under our present funding constraints."

Argo was disappointed to hear the VA apparently won't require a turn lane. Sadly, holding your breath doesn't stop accidents.