Laserfiche WebLink
November 1, 2016 <br />ITEM 14.E.1 <br />INDIAN RIVER COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Members of the Board of County Commissioners <br />DATE: October 21, 2016 <br />SUBJECT: Hurricane Evacuation <br />FROM: Tim Zorc <br />Commissioner, District 3 <br />Discussion Item: <br />During the recent evacuations caused by Hurricane Matthew, critical evacuation concerns have <br />been brought to my attention. <br />Many Indian River County residents evacuated westward utilizing Highway 60. The evacuations <br />were delayed due to the traffic light cycle at the intersection of Highway 60 and Highway 441 <br />running on a normal operation that did not provide for extended green light passage for Indian <br />River County residents evacuating west. <br />During portions of the times reported to me, there was an Osceola County Sheriff vehicle <br />parked near the intersection, but the deputy did not appear to assist with expediting the <br />evacuation process. <br />The bottleneck at the intersection caused traffic to be backed up into Indian River County, <br />approximately six miles east of the intersection with Highway 441. Conversely, traffic heading <br />back to Indian River County following Hurricane Matthew using the single lane roads west of <br />YeeHaw Junction, caused a back-up of about eight miles. This was due to the traffic signal <br />running on a regular cycle, rather than being modified to handle the special circumstances of <br />those returning. <br />I would like to instruct staff to make an official contact with FDOT representatives, Osceola <br />County, Metro Plan Orlando and Pol Transportation Planning Organization to discuss and <br />implement both short term and long term solutions to provide better emergency evacuation <br />passage through the YeeHaw Junction intersection of Highway 60 and Highway 441. <br />Some suggested short solutions could include immediate implementation of a west bound green <br />light priority and the posting of law enforcement officials to manually cycle the light. <br />For more long-term remediation of the situation, an extension of Highway 60 to 4 lanes from the <br />Turnpike Overpass to a quarter mile west of Highway 441 and working to secure PDE funding <br />for the remaining 4 -lane segment from the Florida Turnpike to the current 4 -lane section in Polk <br />County, should be studied. <br />146 <br />