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SR 50 frontage roadway tabled

A strong contingent of Brookridge residents made it clear they don't want the road cutting across the main entrance to their community.

By DAN DeWITT
Published January 12, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Before county commissioners met Wednesday, their staff expert on transportation warned about "parking lot mode."

That would be the future of State Road 50 if the county did not insist on a service road in front of Brookridge and instead tried to manage traffic with yet another traffic light, said Dennis Dix, the county's transportation planning coordinator.

But faced with a standing-room-only crowd of angry Brookridge residents, that was exactly the option the County Commission decided to pursue.

In a discussion led by Commissioners Chris Kingsley and Nancy Robinson, the commission agreed it could not support the frontage road that would cross the mobile home community's main entrance, Brookridge Central Boulevard.

They instead voted to postpone the decision until March 8, allowing county staffers time to ask the state Department of Transportation for a traffic light on SR 50 at the entrance of a proposed commercial development just to the east of Brookridge Central.

Kingsley, Robinson and commission Chairwoman Diane Rowden said they generally favor frontage roads, which planners say are crucial to prevent local traffic from flooding main thoroughfares such as SR 50. But, citing safety concerns of a clogged intersection at the frontage road and Brookridge Central, they said they could not support this frontage road.

"Unless you can solve the safety issue, we're at an impasse," Robinson said.

Brookridge was built before the county passed an ordinance in the 1980s requiring commercial and residential development on main highways to build frontage roads.

The Brookridge frontage road was to have been built by a Michigan developer, Diversified Property Group LLC, which plans to build the shopping center just to the east of Brookridge's entrance. The new service road ultimately would have connected with the commercial hub at SR 50 and Mariner Boulevard.

Gaps in a frontage road can undermine the system by forcing drivers to jump to main highways. Maintaining the service road network is especially important on this stretch of SR 50, which has received an "F" grade from the state because it is over capacity.

Installing another traffic light at the entrance of the shopping center would only make matters worse, Dix said, adding that the state likely would deny the request.

During peak hours on the overburdened stretch of SR 50, drivers must often wait more than one cycle to pass through traffic lights. If the signals are too close together - one already exists at the intersection of Brookridge Central and SR 50 - a green light leads only to traffic backups at the next one.

"That's called gridlock," Dix said.

This situation, combined with a lack of frontage roads that would force Brookridge residents to enter SR 50 for even short commercial trips, means that not building the frontage road would be more dangerous than building it, said County Engineer Charles Mixson.

That is especially true, county planners said, because another part of the plan called for Diversified Property Group to build a much-needed second entrance to Brookridge off Sunshine Grove Road.

The company also would have been required to pay for the frontage road. Even so, the engineer it hired, David Campbell of Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., said it was the best solution. And without it, Diversified will have to scramble to find two access points to the shopping center, which are required by the county.

"The ideal solution is a frontage road," Campbell said. "It works for everyone."

Dan DeWitt can be reached at dewitt@sptimes.com or 352 754-6116.

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:23:25]