A string of crashes, the most recent ending in two Hernando High students killed, has the community wondering what to do about Mondon Hill Road.
By JOE BLACK
Published August 2, 2004
[Times photo: Daniel Wallace]
Cars whoosh along Mondon Hill Road at dusk Thursday, negotiating curves near where Hernando High School student Joey Hall, 19, was killed in April.
Partial list of fatal crashes along Mondon Hill Road since 1991:
1. July 19, 2004: Carlee Horan, 16, crashed into a utility pole after losing control of the car she was driving near a curve.
2. April 9, 2004: Joseph Hall, 18, and 15-year-old Alyssa Jenkins were traveling west when the sedan Hall was driving careened off the road, struck a culvert and rolled end over end. Jenkins survived the accident.
3. March 23, 2003: Brianna Garrett, 3, died after a car smashed into the van in which she and two other children were traveling.
4. June 4, 2001: Dylan Conley, 4, and his cousin Ava Newmeyer, 7, were killed after the van they were traveling in was struck by a truck.
5. Nov. 10, 1996: Randall Poorman, 33, hit a pine tree. He died four months later in the hospital.
6. June 29, 1994: Hugh Dalton "Sam" Batten Jr., 39, died when he lost control of his 1986 Ford pickup and slammed into a utility pole.
7. Aug. 19, 1991: Neiani Harrison Holburn, 48, was killed instantly when an oncoming car crashed into her 1989 Toyota as she drove to work.
8. July 14, 1991: Karlene Sikes, 18, died a few weeks after an oncoming car crashed into her vehicle.
Sources: Times files, Florida Highway Patrol, ESRI and GDT
BROOKSVILLE - Dotting the rural landscape along Mondon Hill Road, crosses rest along with weathered photos and fresh roses.
Each of the roadside memorials includes messages from friends and family remembering those who died along the 6-mile stretch of road that runs from U.S. 41 on the east side of Brooksville to Spring Lake Highway.
The two newest ones - marked with the names of Hernando High School students who crashed along the roadway this year, the latest in mid July - are causing residents and county officials to take another look at a road that is carrying an increasingly heavy load of traffic for which it was not designed.
County and law enforcement officials say the deaths this year are striking a particular chord because they involved high school students. But the problem with Mondon Hill Road is not that its curves are unsafe, officials say; rather, when it rains or someone makes a mistake, the road's changing directions and lack of shoulders are unforgiving.
Officials say there is little that can be done along the tree-lined road, which is likely home to more cattle and horses than people. Some changes have been in the works for years, and some construction will begin in the coming months - but nothing wholesale.
"Whether it's dangerous or not depends on the driver," said Trooper Larry Coggins, a spokesman with the Florida Highway Patrol. "It has some negative characteristics, but people can drive it safely."
Still, in the days since Carlee Horan, 16, died along Mondon Hill Road near Soult Road on July 19, residents in the area have been calling for something to make the road easier to navigate or something to buffer the sides of the road in case there is an accident. Some have asked for slower speeds or more guardrails.
There needs to be "something," they say.
"These kids are dying; it can't be safe," said Carol Trayer, 62, who lives in the Mondon Hill area. "Can't they do something?"
At least nine people have died along the roadway since 1991. From 2001 to the beginning of April, there have been 70 crashes involving 130 vehicles, according to county records.
County Commissioner Diane Rowden, who questioned the road's safety at a recent board meeting, pledged to keep bringing up the issue with fellow commissioners. Too often, she said, accidents seem to be happening there.
"And you don't really hear about people surviving anything that happens there," she said. "It may not be the most dangerous (road), but it's certainly not the safest."
County Engineer Charles Mixson said Mondon Hill Road is a classic example of a once rural path that is sustaining increased traffic - more than engineers expected. There is not much that could be done to ease the curves, he said.
Powell Road, the site of another fatal crash this year involving a high school student, and Spring Lake Highway are other examples of roads that need work to be able to handle more traffic, Mixson said.
Starting at State Road 50, motorists see little of anything for the first half of the drive along Mondon Hill Road. Farms line both sides of the road, with horses and cows grazing behind wire fences. Houses are few and often are difficult to see as the roadway dips and curves.
It isn't until after Soult Road that houses begin popping up regularly, and even those are fleeting after about a half mile as cars speed by old mines and curves.
It is this area that Carol McReynolds watches every day as she folds laundry and prepares dinner for her family.
Between pairing socks and smoothing shirt wrinkles, she glances at speeding sport utility vehicles and circling cars as lost drivers nervously look at poorly marked streets. On weekends, a mix of cyclists and motorcyclists weaves between the cars.
A five-year resident, McReynolds wonders which of the cars along Mondon Hill Road in front of her house will be the next to require a 911 call.
McReynolds generally feels safe, she said. But she worries about those who do not know how to navigate the road.
"(Mondon Hill) has all those curves and hills. If you know what's coming, then you're fine," she said. "But if you speed or stop looking for a second, then it could be a problem."
About 2 miles up from McReynolds' home, near McIntyre Road and Jasmine Drive, the sight of houses becomes more frequent as one approaches Brooksville.
State officials built Mondon Hill Road merely as a bypass of State Road 50 to serve a small number of people. But in the last 10 years, it has taken on a higher volume of travelers than anyone originally predicted because of a growing population and the easy access it provides to downtown Brooksville and Interstate 75.
And Mondon Hill's problem could soon be exacerbated as construction of the Majestic Oaks subdivision begins. The 650-unit development is expected to use the road as one of its major entrances.
County officials are planning to investigate the roadway again in the coming days and within the next year are expected to begin construction to ease some of the problems on the deadly thoroughfare.
"Any time there are fatalities, we look at the area and see if there are trends," Mixson said. "We're going to do the same with Mondon Hill."
According to records, problems along the road are concentrated in two spots: the intersection at McIntyre Road on the east and the intersection with Soult Road on the west.
Mixson said left-turn lanes are going to be built near McIntyre, and plans are in the works for increased shoulder size at the Soult Road intersections. He said there is no need to decrease speed limits or make other major renovations to Mondon Hill.
The two areas targeted have broad turns with limited visibility. Also, there are no shoulders on either side to buffer a car that veers off the pavement.
"It's just a white line, then grass all along that road," Sheriff Richard Nugent said.
Trayer said she looks forward to the improvements, hoping they will make her neighborhood safer.
In the meantime, she still plans to grip the wheel of her car and expect the worse from everyone whizzing by.
"If there's the slightest problem in driving, then you're both in some big trouble," she said. "I just hope it doesn't happen to me."
