![]() ![]() Interestingly, as people get off at exit ramps to get away from the traffic jam, then sideroads start to back-up as well.Īs far as the traffic back-ups at the junction of I-75 and the Florida Turnpike, it's again the volume of traffic from both interstates trying to merge and the difficulties that that creates.īest bet is to find alternate routes, and/or get a new GPS unit that alerts you to traffic jams. It's hard to predict why, and when traffic will back-up like this. ![]() Some one who regularly drives I-75 mentioned that traffic can back-up for miles as a direct result of someone in the wrong lane, wanting to change to an exit lane, and then slowing down to make the change. Along I-4, the projections are similar.Traffic on I-75, going in either direction, regularly backs-up, sometimes for miles and miles, as a result of an accident, heavy traffic in relation to holidays, kids returning to college, and sometimes, for no apparent reason. The Department of Transportation estimated that the law enforcement needs for emergency shoulder use on I-75 would require two officers, while contraflow on the road would take 120 officers from other pre-storm work. And some of those issues have to be worked on.”ĭew said his department's future design standards for highways will include emergency shoulder use. “The public didn't understand when they saw that barrier saying, `Go left, get on this shoulder.' And then they hit those rumble strips, psychologically something happened. “I don't think the public knew about that plan,” Casto said. In addition, it would limit the options for motorists on reversed lanes to exit for fuel, food and lodging due to closed ramps, and would lead to backups where lanes merge as the contraflow comes to an end.ĭavid Casto, the emergency management director in Sumter County, which includes Wildwood, said the use of shoulders by evacuees works but needs some improvements, including public awareness. It also can only be done during daylight hours and would limit the ability of relief operations and fuel trucks to travel into impacted areas. Reversing the direction of half of a highway would require at least two law enforcement officers at each interchange. ![]() “Our research on this issue has shown that one-way operations come with a number of challenges, drawbacks and unintended consequences,” Dew said. “If our research, modeling or traffic operations data showed that contraflow or one-way operations on highway corridors were safe and effective, we would take whatever actions were necessary to implement such plans.”Īn estimated 6.5 million people left their homes as Hurricane Irma approached in early September, a situation that Dew said put “unprecedented” pressure on the state highway system.ĭew said the state looked at different evacuation options after Hurricane Matthew put a strain on the east-west Interstate 10 last year. “Let me be very clear this morning,” Dew said. ![]() Instead, Florida will continue to use paved shoulders as extra lanes, a process used on northbound Interstate 75 between Wildwood and the Georgia state line and along westbound Interstate 4 from Tampa to Orlando as Irma approached. Michael Dew, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, told members of the House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness on Thursday that too many safety impediments remain to making highways one-way for evacuees, a process known as “contraflow,” which is used in coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina. Opening road shoulders to traffic when hurricanes or other disasters threaten Florida will continue to be the primary way to speed evacuations rather than converting all traffic lanes to the same direction. ![]()
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