PALMETTO — A traffic signal in Manatee County has been flashing yellow for more than a decade, while traffic continues to increase.
What You Need To Know
- Signal at U.S. 41 and 7th Street has been flashing for as long as Carla Thomas can remember
- Long wait times, frustrated drivers; but the state is working on a solution
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A Spectrum Bay News 9 viewer asked our Real Time Traffic Expert, Chuck Henson to find out if the state has any plans to bring the light up to speed with the traffic flow.
Carla Thomas drives a school bus for a living, and in the more than a decade she's been doing it, the signal at U.S. 41 and 7th Street West in Palmetto has been something of a nemesis.
It has flashed for as long as she can remember. And because of that, the bulk of the traffic doesn't have to stop.
"I've sat there and timed myself, seven to eight minutes," Thomas said.
It is a very dangerous spot for drivers.
"If I'm not going to see my friend in the complex and I'm driving to go home, you've got cars trying to get in there, and they just pull out because no one lets them in,” she said.
The amount of debris in the intersection tells the story of crashes there.
Thomas wants the state to look at the spot and take the signal from a flashing yellow only to a fully signalized intersection.
“It needs to happen now,” Thomas said. “The growth here is so fast. Everything is really building up. There's houses everywhere and we really need some kind of way to get in and out."
The state is working on a solution, Henson reported.