Have you ever gotten frustrated waiting several cycles at a traffic light just to make a left turn?
- Worker concerned about La Quinta/OBT intersection
- John Martin says he waits several light changes to turn left
- Have a question about traffic or rules? Send it to Ryan's Traffic Inbox
At least one viewer is fed up with the long waits at one Orange County intersection.
John Martin wrote in to us this week with concerns over the intersection of La Quinta Drive and Orange Blossom Trail near the Florida Mall. He says he works near La Quinta Drive, and it's a nightmare during the day just to get up to the light.
"It takes me three or four light changes just to make a left turn onto OBT and then it is heavily congested all the way up to the Turnpike on-ramp. It's quite a mess!"
He says Orange Blossom Trail has never been worse.
"When I started working here three years ago, it wasn't nearly as bad,” Martin said. “(It's) progressively worse every day."
Without congestion, he claims it would take him about 20 minutes to get from work to home. Now, that travel time is considerably longer.
"It took me two hours the night before last," he said recently.
A lot of that extra time is because he cannot turn left onto Orange Blossom Trail from La Quinta Drive.
"I could be the second car at the intersection, and the light may change three or four times while I'm waiting just to get on (U.S.) 192," Martin said.
He says the extra congestion is from drivers trying to get to Florida's Turnpike and getting stuck in the middle of the intersection.
Now, he wants officials to take action.
"I think you should treat it as a four way intersection,” Martin said. “... Some arrows or something just to time the lights a little better. It goes all the way up as far as I can see back to Sand Lake Road."
What's next?
La Quinta Drive is operated and maintained by Orange County and not the city of Orlando. However, the Florida Department of Transportation, which has some jurisdiction in the area as well, claims it's not aware that most of the heavy congestion in the area (especially southbound) is because of the spillage from the busy Turnpike/Beachline Expressway interchange.
Orange County said last week that they were reaching out to the Turnpike Authority for possible answers, so it could end up being a joint operation in the end to alleviate some of that congestion.
John Martin can’t imagine what will happen if nothing is done.
"(It's) complete gridlock. I can't even imagine if they don't do anything about it, what's going to happen... I mean, we got more people coming in every day."
Thanks for your question John! If you have a traffic issue or question you want looked at or solved, write in to Ryan Harper's Traffic Inbox at mynews13.com/trafficinbox and fill out the simple form.