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Town Hall Meeting: Molino’s Red Light, Speeding, Paving and Parks
May 12, 2015
Molino’s new red light, speeding, paving and parks were the hot topics Monday evening during a District 5 town hall meeting hosted by Commissioner Steven Barry and county department heads.
Work remains to be done at the Highway 29 and Highway 97 intersection before newly installed traffic signal is taken out of flash-mode, according to county traffic staffer Colby Brown. The work includes making the median on the southbound side of the intersection longer to help alleviate U-turns into the Tom Thumb. A separate project, he said, will address the nearby intersection of Highway 29 and Crabtree Church Road, but right now there’s no immediate Florida Department of Transportation funding available.
Numerous resident complained about speeders on the mostly residential area of Highway 95A between Highway 29 and Barrineau Park Road. Barry said his office would reach out to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and request increased patrols and traffic details in the area.
Parks and Recreation Director Michael Rhodes said several improvements are complete at Don Sutton Park, including new lights for a t-ball field and additional sidewalks. He also said new walking track will be built behind the Molino Community Complex, and second walking track will be constructed at the Ruritan Community Center in Walnut Hill. Both should open in the fall of this year.
Residents also expressed concerns about the county’s dirt road paving schedule.
Pictured top: A town hall meeting in Molino Monday evening. Pictured inset: Commissioner Steven Barry. Pictured below: Public Works Director Wes Moreno and County Administrator Jack Brown. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “Town Hall Meeting: Molino’s Red Light, Speeding, Paving and Parks”
Our deputies are underpaid compared to other counties, so they leave for better pay. If you want more deputies you need to pay them more to attract more applicants and keep the ones you have. Then you would not have a shortage of deputies. We also have a shortage of paid firefighters because the county commissioners would rather spend the money on tourism traps. We have people speeding on 29 and on 95A all the time and it won’t stop until more deputies are out here, and some lights slow some of them down. Speed limits are there for a reason….to help prevent accidents.
Hey Michael ! You do make some accurate points & the USA couldn’t survive without truckers. The taxes we all pay on gas & diesel are kind of a”hidden “tax to the Feds,State and local governing bodies which they hope the average citizen doesent comprehend. You sure pay way too much and of course it’s on top of your real estate tax,your sales tax,your utility bill taxes, you federal income tax, your Social Security tax , your drivers license,your license tags& even a tax on your insurances for home & autos. I guess you know there’s even a death tax. So yes, you pay a lot on fuel but a bunch goes to the Fed…..isn’t it about 50 cents a gallon on Diesel ? The answer is we all pay a lot of tax but maybe in different categories…. Respect for others to me is the bigger issue. Remember the old Chevrolet commercial ? “See the USA in your Chevrolet”? Try seeing the USA in a Toyota via I-10 & I-12 from about the Louisana line to Houston…….it’s a nightmare for autos doing 70-75 mph.
Thank you Mr. Barry for doing a great job as commissioner.
Thank you Sgt Camac. We are short handed but as in the past. We carry on.
Aww Michael
can’t let the gum bumpers get to you.
They forget how many Elections there have been, how unhappy they are when the officer let’s them know they were speeding like everyone else. Their just not happy anyone else is in their world and not
To Ponderosa Hill, trucks pay more on road taxes than most citizens. We pay a heavy vehicle tax each year, money on tags get divide among the states we run and we pay taxes on fuel when we buy fuel. We probably buy more fuel in two months than most people buy in a year.
To Jay Camac: By the sound of it we need new Officials. We’ve had hundreds of traffic accidents up here over the years….many deaths & serious injuries….a considerable amount of B&E etc. even an escaped road prisoner . Speeding seems to be getting worse…….hwy 29 is a racetrack& death trap. Now we have semi’s & log trucks coming from out of state doing business in our state ( interstate commerce ? ) and not paying taxes even for a Florida Tag. The answer may have to wait til Election Day !
Writing speeding tickets and running radar were two of the things that the sheriff’s office determined were not necessary, by reducing the number of deputies patrolling the Cantonment/Molino area (Precinct 5). As I understand it, there is only one deputy currently assigned to Precinct 5 on the midnight shift. The day shift and the mid shift deputies spend a portion of their time time in the Ensley area answering calls (Precinct 4) due to the staffing shortage at the sheriff’s office. We pay our taxes just like other areas of the county and deserve full time service. Traffic stops lead to getting criminals off the street. I know from my career as a deputy at the sheriff’s office. When there are not enough deputies to patrol and be visible in any area, speeding, other traffic violations and crime will go up. Ever seen someone on Highway 29 that is clearly speeding slow down when they see a crusier? Poor planning in staffing and deputies leaving the sheriff’s office for better pay and a better working environment, have all contributed to the problem.
Can we just call that general area of 29 and 97 the Molino Red Light District?
Thank you Comm.Barry and others for getting the new traffic light installed @Hwy 29 and 97 intersection. Now drivers slow down and drive Defensively!
I sure do wish I had heard about that meeting, I would have asked Mr. Barry how come it costs four times as much to dump trash at Oak Grove inconvenience center than it costs in Santa Rosa County. I would have also asked him how come it takes two county employees to run this site two days a week, when one employee should be more than able to to handle operations for at least four days. I would also love to know why the solid waste dept. makes it so hard to dump here, you have to throw whatever you take to this site over a five foot tall wall. I sure hate I missed the meeting, I’m sure Mr. Barry’s double talk answers would have been entertaining.
It seems to me the numbers of drivers needs to be reduced……probably 50% ( or more ) shouldn’t be driving at all. Does the Sheriff dept. patrol for speeders ? The City Police don’t patrol outside City limits. That really onlyleaves the highway patrol for hwy 29 and it’s east/west intersections. Hwy 196 from ala/fla line ( now paved )has attracted loggers from Alabama as well as traffic from I-10 (Alabama) many turning north ( left) onto hwy 29……it’s a disaster waiting to happen. The Sheriffs dept. has been notified as well as Steven Barry’s office. Guess we’ll be needing a traffic light there also. A reduction of speed limits (enforced) would sure help as well as increasing the County’s cash flow.