POLK CITY, Fla. — A newly formed online petition seeks to improve the intersection of State Road 33 at Mt. Olive Road near Polk City.
Michelle Caudill travels through the intersection frequently. She said it has changed over the past five years as the area around it also changed.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “I mean, it’s just tremendous the amount that it’s grown.”
As the Polk City area welcomes new homes and warehouses, the traffic has grown too.
Caudill said the explosion of traffic is why the intersection of SR-33 (also known as Commonwealth Avenue) and Mt. Olive Road (also known as Church Road) has become dangerous.
Drivers waiting to turn onto the bigger, faster SR-33 get backed up during daily rush hours, and impatient drivers start taking chances.
“I haven’t seen all the accidents, but most of them could have probably been avoided,” said Caudill.
Fixing the problem at the intersection is the focus of a new Change.org petition.
Morgan Hamblin, the creator, wants a traffic light at the intersection.
“It's time we prioritize safety over convenience for all who use this intersection daily,” she writes.
Danny Rifai owns the Marathon gas station adjacent to the intersection. He, too, would like to see a traffic light there.
“I mean, honestly, they will see a big difference if they do the traffic light,” he said.
He thinks the upgrade could save lives, so he would like to see it as soon as possible.
“You don’t want to lose any more lives,” he said. “It’s not easy to lose a loved one.”
According to an email the Polk County Roads and Drainage Division sent to Hamblin, the petition’s creator, there is an effort underway to put a stop light at the intersection.
However, the effort is in its early stages.
“[The Florida Department of Transportation] is taking the lead on the design, so I don't know their timeline,” the county wrote in the email. “Once the design is completed, we will determine how we will fund the intersection improvements for signalization.”
