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School Bus Detouring Around Bridge Closure Involved In Wreck
December 8, 2017
A school bus, detouring around one of many bridge closures in North Escambia, was involved in an accident Thursday morning on a dirt road outside Walnut Hill. There were no injuries to the drivers or seven students headed to Ernest Ward Middle and Northview High School.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 47-year old Paul Ryals of McDavid was driving a 2002 Toyota Tacoma south on South Pineville Road near Ryals Lane as the 2016 Escambia County School District bus driven by Barbara Hollingsworth was traveling north. Both vehicles approached at entered a curve at the same time. The FHP said Ryals failed to to maintain his lane, “causing him to go into the opposite lane of traffic”. The front of the vehicle collided, with $8,000 in damage to the Tacoma and $400 in damage to the bus.
Ryals was cited for failure to maintain lane, per FHP.
School district officials said the bus driver was using South Pineville Road as a detour around a closed bridge on O.C. Phillips Road. South Pineville is a very rural dirt road that is very muddy on rainy days, but is the recommended (and only) detour around the bridge closure.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
9 Responses to “School Bus Detouring Around Bridge Closure Involved In Wreck”
While road conditions are on most everyone’s radar, contact County Commissioner Steve Barry with examples of not just inconvenience resulting from so many bridge closures but the unsatisfactory condition of the remaining clay detour roads. Losing entrance and egress points is one thing; when it diverts traffic onto roads that are not properly maintained nor intended for two way traffic, it’s a recipe for disaster. Because money is always the issue maybe it would be effective for multiple people to point out the money being wasted by ill timed dumping of truckloads of clay on the road when rainy weather is in the forecast. One good rain, it turns to impassable (for two vehicles at same time) road conditions, the clay runs off into the creeks, and when the weather clears, they come out to do it all again. All costing money that could be spent on fixing bridges. Let us dodge potholes and ruts without the slop and fix the bridges! Here’s his email address: district5@myescambia.com
I would trade driving them dirt roads for dealing with Hwy 29 construction traffic any day of the week.
Paul glad you are okay.
However for the ones that think this drive is easy and enjoyable apparently has not dealt with these road conditions. Especially for the ones that live here we have jobs that require us to be on time, they don’t allow the excuse of the detour is taking me an extra 45 minutes.
Some days it is a good drive when the roads are in decent running conditions, but with more than 24 hours of steady rain it is pure misery.
Paul Ryals, I doubt folks who don’t experience the joys of driving on these clay roads can fully appreciate the actual conditions involved. Extremely narrow for most of the miles’ long length of road. A few spots offer the enticing possibility of providing enough room for two vehicles to pass if they can getthisclose as they do so. But then, the soft clay build up along the sides grabs a tire and either throws the vehicle toward center of road or sucks it down into the ditch. Of course, one vehicle can always stop and then back up a mile or so back thru the mess to hopefully reach a log trail access for more room. One can encounter the school busses, log trucks, and even the road grader coming around a curve at break neck speed. It is indeed a trip of beautiful scenery and wildlife as 429SCJ pointed out but add to that some hair raising encounters with folks who might not be so skilled in clay road driving aka mudding.
@ Super Duper Jet Cobra , Do you travel this road on a twice daily bases? If not you ain’t got a clue, I had to pull in a neighbors driveway this Morning to allow the same Bus driver to get by, In places there’s only room for 1 vehicle. The roads were graded the day before the rain and fresh dirt has been added during the rain, Cudos to our outstanding road department.
>>>William, wish you had shown up to get pictired. So the County and public could see there was only enough room for 1 vehicle where we collided.
Paul, I do too. Since there were thankfully no injuries, I didn’t know about it immediately. And when I did find out, I decided not to go simply because I know how bad that road becomes in the rain, and I drive a car that I didn’t want to get stuck or put it in a ditch.
The road department has “improved” South Pineville Road over the years to the point it is only wide enough for one vehicle to comfortably and safely pass at a time. With all the logging and overweight log trucks traveling the roads, the condition has gotten even worse – as have the bridges. Add to that the absolutely mind boggling habit the road department has of continually spending money on loads of fresh clay to dump on the road which a road grader then smooths out – when extended rain is in the forecast. They dump it, grade it, and before the next day is over it’s all washed away, rutted, and a nastier mess than had they just left it alone till the rains passed. Folks know how to drive over rutted, washed out, pothole littered roads. The red oatmeal driving condition that happens with the road department’s efforts is much trickier and dangerous. How about they use some of that maintenance money and put it toward fixing the dang bridges so we have more choices?
15 miles per hour is how I traverse Pineville Road. I never experience any catastrophe and it takes about an hour to make the trip either way, an hour of good music and beautiful scenery, wildlife.
Don’t sweat the petty things in life, adjust your angle of repose to your comfort zone, enjoy the ride.
William, wish you had shown up to get pictired. So the County and public could see there was only enough room for 1 vehicle where we collided. This is a very narrow spot on the road and in the most dangerous curve. This crash was inevitable, sooner or later, Thank God no one was injured.