PASCO COUNTY — Scott Ogden motors to work on his scooter, and he's forced to travel alongside U.S. 19 in Pasco County.
“When you think of this road, what comes to mind," I asked him.
“Danger," he replied.
Ogden is a retired deputy so he’s seen a lot of danger on Florida roads, especially this one.
“I know how many people get maimed and killed out here almost weekly.”
In fact, U.S. 19 is so dangerous that it was labeled as the “deadliest road in America” in 2022 by Vox. The national news outlet cited the road's 34 fatal pedestrian crashes in a 7-year period.
It was around that time the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announced a multi-million dollar plan for safety upgrades. Now two years later, we checked in on the progress of those upgrades with FDOT Traffic Safety Program Engineer Emmeth Duran.
“The Department’s mission is to have zero fatalities or serious injuries on the roadways.”
The projects include new traffic signals, improved crosswalks, and lights retrofitted to LED. 32 traffic lights were adjusted to delay the change to green and give people more time to cross, which Duran says does not lead to more traffic congestion.
“We have found that a 3-second head start for pedestrians is negligible in terms of operations and this is something that is very low cost to implement and it doesn’t have a significant impact to the operations of the intersection.”
In some places FDOT is adding extra mid-block crosswalks because some people don’t want to walk all the way down to the intersections.
A new crosswalk is going in across U.S. 19 at Buena Vista Lane that will have a pedestrian-activated red stop light. There was a fatality there earlier this year.
“It’s a balance. Pedestrians also have the right to the road and they have to be able to cross and access the facilities on both sides of the road," said Duran.
FDOT says they are focusing on education outreach at businesses along U.S. 19 to stress the importance of being safe on the roads. They have also teamed up with law enforcement for details targeting dangerous and aggressive drivers.
In the meantime, Scott is continuing on to work.
He keeps his scooter in the bike lane or on the sidewalk.
“I am very careful because I’ve seen too many of it and it could happen to anybody.”
