Dangerous Highway 4 Intersection Getting Four-Way Stop

April 19, 2012

The intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 87 in Berrydale in northern Santa Rosa County will be soon undergo improvement aimed at increasing safety.

The Florida Department of Transportation will make the intersection a four-way stop, installing warning signs with flashing beacons on all four approaches. Also, the speed limit will be reduced from 55 to 45 mph on Thursday, May 3.

The improvements were ordered as the result of a recent FDOT traffic operations evaluation.

The intersection has been the site of numerous serious traffic crashes over the last several years, including a December 2011 crash that claimed the life of a  man and injured several member of his family.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 47-year old William J. Bray of Jay had stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 87 and Highway 4 the morning of December 3. He failed to see a northbound 1998 Ford SUV driven by 40-year old Michael L. Cale of Milton. Bray pulled into Cale’s path. He collided with the  Cale family vehicle, causing it to overturned two times. Cale and two of his children were ejected.

Michael L. Cale was pronounced deceased on the scene by Lifeguard EMS. Dominique Cale, 14,  and 10-year old Ethan Cale were ejected. Both were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition.  Passengers Courtney Cale, age 16; Brandon Nicholson, 10; and Marsha Cale, 46, were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in serious condition.

Comments

8 Responses to “Dangerous Highway 4 Intersection Getting Four-Way Stop”

  1. Brenda Jones on April 21st, 2012 9:31 pm

    Making it a 4 way stop is just going to make matters worse. A fully functioning stop light, or some other way to slow traffic on 87 is what is needed.

  2. my-2-cents on April 21st, 2012 12:59 am

    Forget the 4 way stop idea… This intersection needs a fully functional traffic signal system with rumble strips & the whole 9 yards! I have traveled through this intersection twice a day, 5 days a week for the past 18 months. I personally have never had a “close call” here, but I have seen some others nearly wacked. This is by far the worse intersection in the area and needs to be dealt with accordingly. As someone else has mentioned, people fly through this area and what makes matters worse is the Log Trucks, those guys are INSANE! You wanna talk about a “one hit wonder”, get wacked by a log truck…. FHP/MCC Officers, I hope you read this.

  3. Karen Gay on April 19th, 2012 9:42 pm

    There is alot of semi’s and other cars that travel between 70-90 mph. Down this road. I have a feeling that isn’t gonna stop them. I see it every day around here.

  4. Alvan K. Fleming on April 19th, 2012 2:59 pm

    It’s about time, this intersection has had numerous accident every year as long as I can remember. I have wished someone would do something for years, there are Semi’s that don’t come to a complete stop on 4 there that have almost made me run into them. If they make everyone stop there at least we know that the traffic will be slow enough that there will be no more fatalities.

  5. Rumble strips on April 19th, 2012 2:01 pm

    I agree. I hope they install the rumble strips, if not, people will fly through it. So many people from out of town and out of state travel that route headed to the beach. Those individuals are used to the North/South traffic not stopping. It would be easy for those individuals or just someone not paying attention to pass right through. Then we’d have even more wrecks at this intersection.

  6. safebear on April 19th, 2012 10:19 am

    I hope they put some good rumble strips on the road. Those are good at getting peoples attention that something is coming up so they pay more attention.

  7. tlh on April 19th, 2012 2:27 am

    I have family that own property just past this area and I have a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach everytime I have to go past this intersection. I am glad they are changing it and making it a stop sign all the way around. Thank you!!

  8. Sonia Marcantel on April 19th, 2012 1:11 am

    Yay! It’s about time!