Village of Osceola Hills residents turned out in force Monday night to complain about chronic traffic jams at Morse Boulevard and State Road 44 while Sumter County commissioners approved a contract to study the intersection.
One resident said she has seen multiple accidents including a fatality.
“The board is equally as concerned about the traffic congestion,” said County Administrator Bradley Arnold.
The $50,755 study by Kimley-Horn and Associates is expected to be completed by June.
The firm will collect 12 hours of turning movement counts and review five years of crash data. It will measure signal timings and project future traffic volume.
Since SR 44 is a state road, Kimley-Horn will consult Florida Department of Transportation staff. The firm will recommend improvements and determine right-of-way needs.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow,” said County Chairman Don Wiley. “It’s going to take several months to go through the process.”
Residents say traffic will get much worse when a Walmart Super Center opens on the southwest corner.
“I have seen multiple accidents,” said Robin Posey. “I’ve seen a fatal accident where an SUV was torn in half.”
Bill Marr said emergency vehicles face a problem getting through the traffic since there are no road shoulders.
“I don’t want someone to die because an ambulance can’t get through,” he said.
Carol Laney said it’s taken her up to 44 minutes to get through the intersection.
“People are leaving The Villages because the traffic is so horrendous,” she said.