Traffic Control At Entrance To Neighborhood

Traffic Control For The Entrance To Lithia Ridge
		Greg Clarkson, Member-at-Large
		The LRHOA Board has increasing concerns regarding the safety of our students and parents commuting to their respective schools in the morning. Specifically, many parents or student drivers must make a left-hand turn out of our subdivision onto Lithia-Pinecrest Road during some of the worst traffic in the morning enroute to their or their children's schools. In addition, residents exiting from Adelaide Avenue (the road immediately opposite Lithia Ridge Blvd. across Lithia Pinecrest Road) exacerbate the situation by competing for the sparse breaks in the Lithia-Pinecrest Road traffic streams and by failing to yield properly the right-of-way. The end result is a very dangerous, four-way intersection that totally lacks traffic control or regulation and poses a direct threat to the safety of our school children and parents. Our communications with County officials indicate this intersection is on the "waiting list" for a light, with a very nebulous situation being complicated by negotiations with a developer. Also, the lack of a fatality at this intersection appears to be a more subtle and thinly-veiled reason for not having a light....even though there are numerous documented accidents and constant near-misses at this intersection. We deem this condition totally unacceptable and have absolutely no intention to idly wait for our inter-section to contribute to the County's traffic fatality statistics. Therefore, we have initiated dialogue with the school principals of Lithia Springs, Randall and Newsome to discuss this situation with the objective of gaining their support in mounting a joint effort to remedy this very dangerous situation posed to our school children and parents. We will be exploring other interim options, such as requesting active Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department traffic control during the morning rush hour, and intend to solicit the support of the local media and those residents served by Adelaide Avenue. We will keep you advised of the latest developments and progress of our efforts. Please feel to contact us to offer any suggestions or other avenues of support to end this immediate danger to our children and parents. Thank you kindly!