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County Makes $265K Commitment For Hwy 29, Hwy 97 Traffic Light
June 9, 2014
Escambia County has made a funding commitment of over a quarter million dollars for a red light at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection in Molino.
Last October, the Escambia County Commission affirmed its support for improvements at the intersection and expressed a willingness for the county to pay for the red light at the intersection. A Florida Department of Transportation study determined the intersection did meet the criteria for the light, with an agreement in place that FDOT would design and construct the upgrades with Escambia County paying for the construction.
FDOT has completed 60 percent of the design phase and determined that Escambia County’s estimated cost for construction will be an estimated $265,500 for mast arms and signals at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97.
A redesign of the Crabtree Church Road intersection with Highway 97, which is just feet from Highway 29, also also expected to take place.
Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry, Interim County Administrator Larry Newsom, Sen. Greg Evers, Rep. Clay Ingram, Rep. Doug Broxson, Rep. Mike Hill, Rep. Matt Gaetz and Senate President Don Gaetz all advocated for FDOT to make safety improvements at the intersection.
Pictured: Traffic crashes at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection in Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
19 Responses to “County Makes $265K Commitment For Hwy 29, Hwy 97 Traffic Light”
Speed – you see it everywhere and that is not the issue. Hwy 29 North AND South have the right of way, Period! Those coming off Hwy 97 do not! They have a RED STOP SIGN that they often fail to stop at. Also, when you are crossing Hwy 29 from Hwy 97 most people do not know the proper way of doing this.
Cars turning left on Hwy 97 should be sitting on the NORTH side of the car crossing or even going North on Hwy 29. This way You have a view of your oncoming traffic! So many times I have been there sitting in the proper spot and some Idiot fails to execute a proper positioning at the intersection. That causes accidents!
I am 44 yrs old and been in the Molino area my whole life. Been driving since I was 15 .. no accidents.
Traffic turning right onto Hwy 29 from Hwy 97 have a merge lane with a RED STOP SIGN at the head of it. No one pays attention. Only way to keep many wrecks from happening – NO TURN ON RED – and place cameras for those that do not pay attention to the RED STOP SIGN now and will not pay attention to the RED TRAFFIC LIGHT when in place, a nice, steep ticket to help pay for the light.
Speed does not always kill – Stupidity will everytime though
Molino Raised for keeping Molino Rural!
bet this doesn’t stop the wrecks.main cause,people just dont look before turning.. people will always turn in front of moving traffic
Red light there will be fine. But the 2 main issues that cause wrecks is not being addressed. #1. There is a STOP sign on hwy 97. It’s not a yield sign. Stop means Stop. #2. There is a half mile long acceleration lane on southbound hwy 29. You ever see anyone using it? Me either. Bottom line is that people have got to start paying attention!!!!!!
Sone of u people kill me. I have lived in Molino for over 35 years and never had a issue at this intersection. Someone’s comment was the speed limit being 65. Maybe ur one of the ones that needs to pay attention because the limit drops to 55 south of Frans and picks back up north of where 95-A dead ends to 29. I feel that people complaing had to come from the city and have not lived here all your life. Oh yeah get ur facts straight, Atmore Hwy belongs to the state so the county really has nothing to do with Atmore Hwy. As far as running radar. Sorry boys with the county blowing this kinda cash there probably won’t be any raises this year because if they want a redlight the state needs to fund it not the county.
Opinions….everyone has one, that’s what makes the world go around!
I personally support having a red light there to better organize the various directions that are needed for one to travel. There are always going to be drivers not paying attention, not adhering to the speed limit and who simply just don’t like change.
Bottom line is, the wrecks will probably still continue because wrecks do happen, red light or no red light, but at least now, everyone will have a better chance of getting where they want to go with having their fair time (y)
Finally! To those who think this won’t help really? How so? Signs warning drivers there’s a red light ahead. Change in the intersection. Making other lanes STOP. Really this won’t help? Then maybe your the idiots driving though without slowing down. This is great! I cringe watching school buses drive through hoping one of you “light won’t help idiots” don’t hit them.
You guys are right. Let’s just get rid of all lights everywhere. Who needs them? Hey, you know what has not been a factor in any one of those accidents at that intersection?……,,a light. Clearly, you can’t rely on people alone. Time to move forward. It’s happening whether you like it or not.
I travel this section of road just about daily. Never had an accident, never even had a close call. I’ve turned into the Tom Thumb coming from the Atmore Rd and H/W 29 south and north, turned on to the Atmore Rd, and turned from the Atmore Rd north and south on H/w 29. So do you just think I’m lucky or that I actually pay attention to what is going on around me on the roads? IT AIN’T LUCK!
SWscs might be right! We need traffic lights at every intersection, so people can then complain about the lights not being synchronized.
Heard about a woman once that pulled out in front of an 18 wheeler. Both her and her husband was seriously hurt. The woman’s comment was “he” (the 18 wheeler) had enough time to slow down, if he had wanted to. The idea the “She” didn’t have to be in such a hurry to pull out in front of the truck didn’t seem to click.
Watch what’s around you, when you’re driving. You might save your own self a lot of pain and suffering.
This will not solve the problem. Really you have to come to a stop at intersection. Your still
Gonna pull out right on red. The accidents will
Still happen. It is not then intersection it’s the people that refuse to
Pay attention ,, really waste of money
People do you really think a red light will solve this problem. People just need to slow down and STOP and look before they drive onto 29. Saturday we were driving down 29 and a tanker truck never did stop at the stop sign at 97 he just pulled on out. Thankfully we was in the left lane or we would have ran right into it (an no we were not speeding). And there was a cop there and the cop didn’t even stop the trucker for not stopping at the stop sign.
Traffic lights are not going to stop the wrecks….if that was the case there never would be wrecks at any traffic light anywhere. People have just got to take the time to stop and look at what is going on around them. Leave a little earlier for whatever they are going to. Be aware of what is going on around you.
People saying that intersection doesn’t need a light makes me laugh. By that logic no intersection needs lights, it’s all up to driver judgement! Yeah that’ll reduce so many accidents!
Change is coming to Molino! We get a red light, we almost as big as Jay now.
Going south on Hwy 29 speed limit 65 mph. You come over the rise and BOOM there is a traffic light !!
This is not going to help. It is people who are impatient and do not know how to drive properly are the problem.
Thank you, Escambia County Commission. This has been needed for quite some time and I, as well as, many more people are extremely thankful.
I can’t believe there is opposition to this red light. Sure, there will always be bad drivers and poor judgement. However, I’ve been waiting to cross 29, finally get clearance, and then have cars or motorcycles fly over the hill outta no where and nearly t-bone me. Is that my fault? No. I waited for a clear intersection. Secondly, I cannot believe that there is belief that it’ll cause more wrecks. No, they’ll have to install traffic signal ahead signs on 29 and it’ll take some time for locals to become accustom to, but it’s no different than the red lights on 29 in cantonment. There needed to be a light there ages ago.
The county should set up a speed trap along 97. That would pay for the cost of the light in no time.
Now if there were just one at the Piggly Wiggly on 29 in Century, at Hwy 4w and 29 in Century, at 29 in Bluff Springs, on 29 at the new Dollar Gen store in Molino, at the fire tower just south of Molino, at the Piggly Wiggly on 97 in Davisville, at Hwy 4/29, at Earnest Ward School, at 99/97, at Barineau Park School, etc.
Putting up a light isn’t going to fix the core problem; bad drivers and poor judgement. Even if people on 29 are going faster than 55mph they still have the right of way and the drivers on the side roads need to better judge speed and distance.
They might as well put in an ER on the corner also. It’ll get plenty of business from the wrecks that will be caused by the light. It’s like putting a light up across the interstate. It won’t solve anything but will cost a whole lot more than what the county will pay out. What will ECAT do when all this tax money is spent on a light instead of keeping the buses running?
That intersection is a nightmare…too many people going in too many directions with people who speed down 29…sometimes way over the speed limit. If you want to make a left turn there you are risking your life. If you need to pull out into traffic from 97 or Tom Thumb it is just as bad, and getting across 29 is a nightmare.