An official in The Villages is on a mission to make golf cart travel safer at night.
Community Development District 5 Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Kadow is hoping to persuade officials south of County Road 466 to agree to put down reflective pavement markings on the multi-modal paths. He is hoping that he can convince enough of the CDDs to sign onto the idea and have the Project Wide Advisory Committee pick up the tab.
If an agreement is reached, the RPMs would be put down on the paths at a distance of about 20 feet apart.
Kadow said it’s a safety issue for a community that is aging and coping with vision challenges. He said the RPMs could also have a liberating effect for Villagers who have been reluctant to travel by golf cart at night.
“We want to afford our residents the opportunity to use the paths at night and not be afraid,” Kadow said.
The Village of Lynnhaven resident said the trend toward brighter golf cart lights has resulted in a blinding effect from oncoming traffic at night. He said the RPMs would help keep golf cart drivers on track as they would have the reflectors providing additional guidance, even if they are momentarily blinded by the oncoming lights.
If CDD 5 was to pay to put down the RPMs on its share of the multi-modal paths, it would cost about $12,000.
“It’s about the cost of a cup of coffee, in terms of the size of our budget,” Kadow said. “If we save one person from being medivaced out to Orlando, it’s worth it.
However, he said he would prefer to see at least six fellow CDDs south of County Road 466 sign on have PWAC pay for the RPMs. It would also offer consistency if more CDDs cooperated in a seamless effort. If PWAC paid for it throughout CDDs 5 through 13, it would run about $100,000.
While Kadow has written letters and spoken with officials from other CDDs, he admitted his lobbying efforts have not won over enough other CDDs.
“We don’t have the support yet,” Kadow said.