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Path to bargains sought

Some residents want a golf cart crossing on U.S. 301 that would provide easy access to a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2007

Ever since doors to the new Wal-Mart Supercenter slid open this spring, Sun City Center residents have wanted to drive their golf carts there to shop.

But U.S. 301 stood in the way.

Now desire has turned to controversy as some residents launched a petition drive to change state law and establish a golf cart crossing on U.S. 301.

Calling the new group Residents for Golf Carts 2 Wal-Mart, former Community Association president Walt Cawein and other volunteers started gathering signatures this week to bring to Tallahassee.

They need the blessing of the Florida Department of Transportation regarding safety issues and the Legislature's permission to get a designated golf cart crossing over a highway, like the ones crossing State Road 674.

"Our mantra is safe and legal," said Cawein, who has a golf cart but doesn't use it much. Still, he said he became involved on behalf of many residents who depend on their golf carts for transportation and want to take advantage of Wal-Mart's low prices and discount prescription drugs.

"We think an awful lot of people want it," he said.

The group proposes a crossing on U.S. 301, north of State Road 674 and Publix, at a traffic light. Wal-Mart sits on the east side of U.S. 301. On the west side of U.S. 301, the group wants a golf cart path to cut through property planned for an office complex and run into Sun City Center at Del Webb Boulevard.

Paul Wheat, the current association president, said the community has an agreement on the books since the 1970s that blocks traffic from entering Sun City Center from U.S. 301.

He said some residents worry that, if successful, the group's proposal could violate that agreement and open the community to future traffic cutting through its local streets.

Cawein said the group envisions a narrow golf cart path that would not handle car or truck traffic.

But then there's the big question of safety.

The Sheriff's Office says it will enforce the law and whatever the Legislature decides. But current traffic patterns on U.S. 301 give community resource Deputy Robert Thornton cause to worry.

Motorists race along U.S. 301 at high speeds, he said. And when he's monitoring traffic and tripping the lights every third cycle, someone blows through and fails to stop.

"That makes me very nervous, adding golf carts to the mix," he said.

Golf cart crashes in Sun City Center rarely cause serious injuries right now because traffic within the community is moving relatively slowly, he said. But traffic on U.S. 301, he says, is another story, even when compared to State Road 674.

"I don't have sympathy [for] folks who want go shopping in a golf cart when we're looking at someone who can lose their life," he said.

"I really can't weigh convenience against people's safety, and this is a real serious concern."

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at amrhein@sptimes or 661-2441.

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 08:25:22]