Polk County leaders presented options to residents Thursday night for improving safety along a deadly stretch of roadway in Lakeland.

  • Three people killed on Clubhouse Road since 2014
  • FDOT study recommended adding streetlights, more sidewalks, left turn lanes
  • Push for improvements peaked after death of Kalen Kirk, 17, on May 2, 2016

The meeting was held was 6 to 7:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church - Highlands City, on Yarborough Lane.

The options presented came from a study prepared by Florida Department of Transportation consultants. The $23,000 study, paid for by FDOT, suggested the county add street lights to Clubhouse Road, where three people have been killed since 2014.

It also recommended adding more sidewalks, signs that alert drivers how fast they’re going, and left turn lanes.

Tragedy provides impetus for change

The push for improvements peaked in May of 2016, when a school crossing supervisor hit and killed Kalen Kirk, 17, as he was crossing Clubhouse Road early in the morning to catch the bus to school. A cross sitting at the intersection of where the crash happened is a daily reminder to Kalen's family.

“It’s extremely rough," said Kalen's dad, Tony Kirk. "We have to come through here every day. We live right here and he died right there. It’s just a constant reminder every day of what happened."

Right after Kalen was killed, the elder Kirk demanded the county add more street lights and a pedestrian cross walk. One light was added in the spot near where Kalen was killed.

Kirk said he has remained quiet since, allowing the process to work itself out. But with this new study, also suggesting streetlights, he’s hoping he’ll finally see some action.

“It’s not like this is new to them. This isn’t new information that has come up. There have been consistent, long-standing, chronic complaints about the safety on Clubhouse Road,” said Kirk.

Next steps

In addition to the deaths of Kalen this past May, Jill Braddock in August 2014, and Scott Sherman in Nov. 2014, the study found there were six other pedestrian/bicyclist crashes on Clubhouse Road since 2011.

“It’s really unfortunate that it has taken three deaths and years and years of complaints and dialogue in order for something like this to finally occur," said Kirk. "What I am really hoping is at the end of the day, after all of the money has been spent on these traffic studies, that something affirmative is done."

County Commissioners will be briefed on what was said during the community meeting on Friday, Dec. 9. A county spokeswoman said commissioners will then direct staff on what to do next.