Left turns from the Chitty Chatty neighborhood to Morse Boulevard are tedious and dangerous, a resident told Sumter County commissioners Tuesday night.
The same goes for drivers trying to turn left from Sandalwood Condominiums across the boulevard, she said.
“We truly hope there is a safe and reasonable solution,” said Cheryl Waylans, who heads the neighbors’ group. “You take your life in your hands. We hope our call to action does not fall on deaf ears.”
She said the situation is so bad that the Waze navigation app recommends making a right turn followed by a U-turn instead of trying to turn left and the problem is worse at Sandalwood, which is served by school buses.
Waylans said she collected 300 signatures on a petition calling for a solution such as a traffic signal.
Chitty Chatty is the first Villages neighborhood south of State Road 44, east of Morse Boulevard.
County Administrator Bradley Arnold said traffic studies done when the road was improved to accommodate The Villages expansion found that the intersection “did not warrant traffic signals.”
He said the safest solution would be to make left turns impossible.
“The best way to make it safer is to eliminate the full median opening,” Arnold said.
