The Florida Department of Transportation is planning to reconstruct a deadly Hernando County intersection to make it safer for drivers.
- Transportation officials reworking Brooksville intersection
- Deadly crashes in the past at Cortez Blvd. and Fort Dade Ave.
- FDOT officials are removing the median
Drivers said the intersection of Cortez Boulevard and Ford Dade Avenue in Brooksville can be difficult to navigate.
Vehicles on Fort Dade Avenue often cross Cortez Boulevard and have to weave their way through the high-speed traffic.
"People stop, they don't stop, they speed up," Donna De Gaspe Beaubien said. "It's just a mess."
The busy intersection has claimed several lives, including a 61-year-old man in May 2016. Officials said the man failed to stop before entering the intersection and hitting a Hernando County deputy's patrol vehicle. The deputy was OK in the crash.
To prevent more crashes, however, transportation officials are closing off the median and only allow drivers on Cortez Boulevard to make a left-hand turn. Drivers approaching the intersection from Fort Dade Avenue will only be able to make a right turn.
It's a new pattern many drivers won't mind using.
"It's a small price to pay for all the lives that it will save," Beaubien said.
While many drivers understand why the change is being made, some just wish it didn't have to be the case.
"It's real nice for me to just cut out there and get into the merge lane, wait for traffic and pull in," Sam Rowley said. "To turn back and have to go back down this way is inconvenient. ... There's a lot of people around here that aren't really good drivers. And as a result, maybe it's a good thing because it's a minor inconvenience to go down and around as opposed to going out there and getting drilled."
The new traffic pattern will take effect Monday.
Hernando County will also be adding rumble strips to the section of Fort Dade Avenue just north of the intersection.