HOMOSASSA, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation is working to make traffic through a construction area in Homosassa a bit easier to navigate by changing the timing of some of the area's traffic lights.

  • Timing of signals at Yulee Drive, Grover Cleveland Blvd/Halls River Rd, Homosassa Trail tweaked
  • FDOT: Changes made this month appear to be working
  • Signals will all be linked together once construction complete
  • More Citrus County stories

That area has been known to have a lot of traffic since construction there began.

"I keep telling myself once they're done it's going to be better, it's actually going to bring more business to the community," said Tiffany Green, owner of The Biscuit Barn.

Many drivers have simply been avoiding the area because of all the traffic, something people in Golden Eagle Plaza say has impacted their businesses. 

"I've even had customers actually tell me that they're not coming back until the road work's done," said Krissy Edstrom, Manager at Stixx Billards 

"Luckily we have two restaurants," Green said. "Some of our customers I believe will go to the Crystal River restaurant because they don't want to worry about finding their way in here."

What's been changed?

FDOT tweaked the timing of the lights at Yulee Drive, Grover Cleveland Boulevard/Halls River Road, and Homosassa Trail, hoping to make travel through the area easier. The change started on February 11.

Those lights aren't completely in sync yet, but the plan is to link all of them together once construction is complete. 

John McShaffrey with FDOT said the tweaks they've made this month do appear to be working and some business owners think it will make travel easier, hopefully encouraging more people to come to this plaza. 

"Normally around 12:30 I've noticed it will be backed up going southbound all the way from the lights down here up to the Golden Eagle Plaza. So, I think if they can work that out it might be a little better," Green said.

But others say until access to their parking lot improves, they don't think business will pick back up. 

"Unless you know where you're going how to get here there's no way to get in,” Edstrom explained. 

Construction is scheduled to continue until next summer.

McShaffrey said they will continue to monitor traffic in that area and will continue to make changes to the timing of the lights as needed.