BARTOW, Fla. - There have been several crashes at a busy Bartow intersection.

But as Real Time Traffic Expert Chuck Henson has learned, a long requested signal is in the works.

After 15 crashes, two of them fatal, at the busy intersection of State Road 60 and Eighty Foot Road in the past five years, the Florida Department of Transportation is making a change, according to FDOT’s Brian Rick.

"We looked at the traffic volume, both current and future, and made the decision that a traffic signal indeed is the best approach," Rick said.

It was a community effort to make this happen. Local residents petitioned a former city commissioner who then took their concerns to the state.

But it's not just past crashes that come into account here.

With Bartow and Polk County's projected growth comes a lot more traffic, and that will further stress this already busy spot.

That is what called the state to action.  

Even then, don't expect traffic to come to a stop right away.

"We have begun the process of installing that signal," Rick said. "It should be completed in approximately one year from now in the spring of 2021."

You may be wondering why it would take a year to make this happen. That is a best case scenario. City, county and state coordination are needed, along with time for engineering plans and then the process of bidding out and awarding the construction contract.