New Safety Lighting Installed At Highway 29, Highway 196 Intersection

June 14, 2024

New safety lighting was installed Thursday at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 196 in Molino, the site of 66 traffic crashes in the past decade.

Of the 66 wrecks, three were fatal and three more left individuals with incapacitating injuries.. FHP said alcohol contributed to three of the wrecks.

Following a serious crash Tuesday that injured two people, Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry told NorthEscambia.com that he was coordinating the installation of additional lighting with Florida Power & Light. The lights were previously set to be installed in July but were fast-tracked to Thursday.

On January 26 of this year, 17-year-old Tate High School student Bradley Ellertson died when a semi-truck and a Kia Soul collided at the intersection. FHP said the driver of the Kia Soul, a 16-year-old female from Pensacola, was traveling eastbound on Highway 196 when she ran the stop sign at Highway 29 and collided with the oncoming semi-truck.

Overall control of safety measures at the intersection falls with the Florida Department of Transportation due to Highway 29. However, Highway 196 is a county road.

Barry said the January crash that killed Ellertson prompted him and the county to ask FDOT to evaluate the intersection for any safety improvements, including any need for a traffic light. He said previous state studies have shown a traffic light was not appropriate.

In the meantime, Barry said the county will install flashing LED lights on the Highway 196 stop signs to improve driver attention.

Pictured: New street lighting was installed Thursday at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 196 in Molino. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

9 Responses to “New Safety Lighting Installed At Highway 29, Highway 196 Intersection”

  1. CCHGN on June 16th, 2024 1:18 pm

    To “Frustrated” – You assume it’s speeders that cause wrecks. it is not. The empirical data and facts are already there- 66 wrecks. What is the majority? Folks running the stop sign , and barreling into hwy 29 traffic. Wouldn’t matter if they’re doing 45MPH, it’d still be a wreck (which begs the question, how many barrel out into 29 and do NOT get into a wreck?)

    BTW, all that “half dozen cops writing tickets”, and “driving up and down hwy 29, with cameras both ways, is worthless. THAT doesn’t address the problem- folks texting on their phone, and running the stop sign.

  2. Cb on June 14th, 2024 8:46 pm

    One thing I will suggest is, they make illuminated led stop signs, I honestly think that would be a great rendition to this 196 project. Flashing when people come up to it will help tremendously

  3. Danny Bolton on June 14th, 2024 8:40 pm

    I say enforce the traffic laws on the books. Where is traffic law enforcement on the north end of the county? We pay taxes just like everyone else in this county.

  4. do the right thing on June 14th, 2024 6:17 pm

    2 factors

    1. speed

    2. impatient

  5. Willis on June 14th, 2024 12:40 pm

    At least First Responders will be able to see a little better there at night.

  6. Roger on June 14th, 2024 11:20 am

    I drive this spot a lot. And I been fooled coming east on 196 after the DG was opened. Their lights make it look like the intersection is farther up that hill. And I pay attention so I know if it gets me, it will get those that dont pay any attention

  7. How US 19 Became “Useless 19” on June 14th, 2024 9:00 am

    Uncontrolled development on the US 19 corridor down Florida’s west coast caused the highway to have thousands of driveway cuts, intersections, and traffic signals. The speed reached a crawl. No amount of speed limit reductions, additional signals, or other traffic control methods could reduce the accidents or slowdowns in traffic flow.

    FDOT and the local and legislative response was to extend I-75 south of Tampa, and more recently in history construct the Suncoast Expressway (toll) and Veterans Expressway (toll) north of Tampa to near Inverness.

    And that’s what we have here. While Escambia County installs a streetlight, the level of service quality on US 29 will continue to drop with each new driveway cut, intersection, and signal added. Eventually, it will take an hour one way to drive from the job centers in Pensacola to Molino.

    Rome (US 29) is burning, yet County officials are letting the public eat cake by doing absolutely nothing about the future of north-south travel in Escambia County.

  8. Frustrated on June 14th, 2024 7:41 am

    Those street lights are a good idea for the intersection, extra lighting at night always helps. My concern here is how do they help the intersection when the accidents occur during the day? You want to find out what the problem is? Take an unmarked vehicle & travel north & south on Hwy 29 during the day between daylight & dark catching peak traffic flow times. Video traffic in front of & behind the vehicle your traveling in. Use cruise control to maintain speed when possible & you will find the problem. Set up a video camera alongside Hwy 29 with a calibrated portable radar unit. Do this for both northbound & southbound traffic. Video the intersection during the day. Do this over a weeks time, seven consecutive days. You will identify the problems then a solution can be reached with facts. Otherwise opinions & speculations is all you’ll have. You want to slow down traffic right now, put a traffic unit to work writing citations with a half dozen officers. There’s plenty of concealment for them to hide. Cut no breaks, write the citations for the speed people are traveling. Record the data, it’ll be useful in the future. This isn’t a new approach, this is old hat, do something, quit ignoring the problems, stop finding a reason not too.

  9. tc on June 14th, 2024 6:58 am

    Been using this intersection safely for 40 yrs. If I can do it then so can everyone else. Hold the impatient drivers accountable not the intersection

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News