Is it hard to turn left onto 4-lane roads?
 

The 4-lane roads I am referring to are Bailey Trail, Odell, Pinellas, Hillsborough, and other connecting roads in TV. I consider them 4-lane roads because, as I understand it, they have two car lanes and two cart lanes.

During the busy winter months, is it hard for you to turn left onto these roads?

If and when we sell our house in Virginia, we will come to TV to look for a house. We have been looking at houses on the internet and trying to determine how we would drive from a house to the local neighborhood and village pools. Sometimes that would involve turning left onto a 4-line road like Hillsborough, which will probably get even busier as Pine Ridge and Pine Hills grow and people use that road to reach Brownwood.

Is that something to be avoided during the busy season?

Non-issue imo.

I don't think "hard" is the right word. Like everywhere else, this place gets busy. With increased traffic you might have to wait for an opening in traffic to make the turn. I live off of Warnock, and there can be times when turning onto Hillsborough requires a wait for the various cars, work trucks and golf carts to pass through. Other times there is no traffic at all. We too moved from Northern Virginia and when I hear people complain about all the "traffic" around here I laugh. I think back of my beltway trips and I66.

I find that all roads in Florida are flooded with traffic in the winter months. good example I was traveling north on 441. At Marion market must of been 100 Cars waiting to turn left. Luckily I was in the right lane knowing the boomdoggle around 1100 am. Probably half got stuck in that lane due to the heavy traffic traveling north at that time of day.

There are times when turning left onto Hillsborough from Warnock can take a bit of time but I would not call it a problem.

Due to the heavy traffic in-season, I avoid left hand turns on to Pinellas from Charlotte Court by going south to Hillsborough, turning right, and proceeding to the circle at Buena Vista.

It is easy to see from the posts who has patience and who does not. It is never difficult if you have patience.

Short of driving through someone's yard, you have to have patience turning onto Hillsborough from Warnock sometimes. :)

Life is not always easy...............

Just use your blinker, you will be fine.

Thanks for your responses!

When I look at the map, it appears that pulling out of Warnock would be easier because the car and cart lanes going east on Hillsborough have merged together, so you only have one group of east-moving vehicles to look for.

About 500 ft west of there, Druid Street intersects with Hillsborough but the car and cart lanes on Hillsborough are separate, so you have two sets of east-moving vehicles to look for. That looks tougher to me.

I know what you mean. When I was working, I drove the beltway every day and was used to it. Now that I am retired, the beltway kind of freaks me out when I have to drive on it.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. The Charlotte Court/Pinellas intersection looks tougher than the one at Hillsborough/Warnock.

By the way, I see that Charlotte Court is also 4-lane. Do you ever have a problem turning left onto it?

the life long learning centre offers a how to course on seasonal driving....:click:

Agree.

The traffic in the Villages is heavy Jan Feb March. As full-time Villagers we have learned ways to avoid the heavy traffic intersections as well as avoid the areas where tons of people gather. We still have a wonderful time living here despite so many people. You do have to be on top of your game as a driver here as especially during the spring months there are many drivers unfamiliar with The Villages traffic patterns. Driving defensively here is always a good idea especially in the round-abouts and intersections.

Turning onto 4 lane roads can be an issue depending where and what the 4 lane roads are.

For example the intersection of Bailey Trail (CR 472) and Hwy 301 used to be open to a left turn. It is no longer. They have put up flex poles to dis-allow a left turn being made at that location......55 mph speed limit......super busy almost anytime.....significant number of accidents....acknlowedged by the powers that be to put in a traffic light....who in response are currently enamoured with putting in a traffic circle the.:22yikes: Fodder for another thread.

Yes the 4 lane left turn is going to be a challenge for the many seniors who already have a problem negiating safe out and returns on two lane roads.

I go out of my way to work around any 4 lane left turns in or around TV. Too many dynamics for the aging driver population.

In my humble opinion.

I agree with Photo (I know you're shocked:1rotfl:)
I too live off Warnock and it is non-issue 95% of the time. The most I've ever come up behind is 4 cars waiting to turn left on Hillsborough, including carts. Today, however at about 11:45 AM the exit gate at Hillsborough to BV was backed up to the cart path crossing between 1&2 of Egret---does anyone have a clue what was going on???? I came in that gate and there was no accident or disabled vehicle and the gate was working fine. They also had someone directing car traffic entering and cart traffic crossing at the entrance---first I've ever seen that as well

This has got to be a first, GE! I'm glad I was sitting when I read this :)

Another poster indicated it was the Strawberry Festival at Brownwood which caused the unusual traffic backup.

I'm just glad you weren't at the wheel of your car when you read it! A special event might explain it, I had come from Pinellas Plaza on Henly and it took a while to enter the RB due to southbound traffic on BV
If that was it, I'm glad I wasn't going to Brownwood, or Publix Grand Traverse for that matter.

Some people like to plan ahead. Maybe there is less of a problem in some villages than in others. We turn left onto Bailey's Trail from St. Charles all the time, and there is no problem (there is a traffic light).

Agree with Bear. I think you are over thinking the situation. You need to visit during the high season and judge for your self. We are from Northern VA and I have experienced my share of traffic. Good luck!

No, that's never been a big problem.

That is good to hear.

We were looking at a house on Reading Road from where on occasion we would have to turn left onto Anna Maria Ave, which is 4-lane. If you say it is easy to turn left onto Charlotte Court, then it probably is easy to turn left onto Anna Maria.

If we manage to sell our house, we will probably come down to TV in the summer and buy a house, so we will not get to see the high season traffic. That is why your answers are so useful.

Thanks for your good wishes. Actually, traffic here does not bother me. I never have to turn left onto a 4-lane road where there is no stop light.

Is it hard to turn left onto 4-lane roads?
 

I realize that you are calling 2 cart lanes and 2 auto lanes a 4 lane road. But they are not as difficult to turn left onto or get across as you seem to be making it. If they truly were 4 auto lane roads, that might be a different situation.

And on a real 4 lane road you only cross 2 lanes when turning left. So what is your concern?

Tell that to the TVers who say they go out of their way to avoid turning left onto a 4-lane road.

My concern is having to cross two lanes of traffic when turning left onto a 4-lane road.

The TOTV forum is a tiny representation of The Villages population. You have asked many reasonable questions on TOTV, but you also have received so many contradictory answers that you remain indecisive. That is a symptom of analysis paralysis. Even if you kept a score sheet of pros and cons (and I hope you do), you will need some first hand experience to know what is right for you.

I live in that general area and take Anna Maria nearly every day. Along with Charlotte Ct., it is the N-S connector between Pinellas Pl. and Hillsborough Tr. Despite that, there is rarely any significant traffic. Today, at 1:30, during the whole drive on Anna Maria from Pinellas to Hillsborough, there was 1 car and 1 cart going my way, and 2 cars and 3 carts in the opposite direction, and traffic today was heavier due to Strawberry Fest at Brownwood. I wouldn't give it a second thought, it's not like turning left onto 301 from a side street north of TV where traffic is coming at 65+ in both directions, all 4 lanes
As an aside, when making a left I never turn into the car lane if there is a cart travelling in the far cart lane. I have no problem from a technical point of view, but when I'm the cart driver, I have no idea if the car is going to swing wide into my lane, so why make the cart driver nervous?

1. Sure, there are a few who do that. They hardly represent a majority of Villagers.


2. You are still only crossing 2 lanes of traffic. Then you merge. This is not a significant event.

In all seriousness, if this is a major concern impacting your decision about moving to TV, be aware that we continue to grow and I , among many others, am convinced this will continue.

I've lived here 4 years and things have changed dramatically. I believe you will experience the same. So a choice you make today may not represent future traffic patterns.

I hope you make the decision that is the correct choice for you in terms of where to live.

I think you have a very good idea and thanks for mentioning it. Since I have never driven a golf cart on a road where cars are travelling, I never understood how it would be from the cart driver point of view. Since you mentioned it, now I can see how pulling into the car lane next to a golf cart could easily make the cart driver nervous.

Like I said:

With all due respect, it sounds like you've already made up your mind that this is going to be a bigger problem than it really is. I wholeheartedly agree with the previous posters, and that's to visit here, rent a cart and drive around to get a feel for yourself. I think you'll find once you do it a few times, its not a problem in the least.

It turned out to be a classic case of deja vu. After I posted that, I went to get the mail. Coming back north on Warnock, a car was going to make a left out of Cross Hill to go north as well. He sat there and waited, and waited and waited (I was the only vehicle on the road), and then made his left just as I was passing the cross street. Yes, he swung about a foot and a half over the line, but it was clear to me he was going to make a half a$$ed move, so I had enough time to brake. It makes you wonder what some people are thinking sometimes. Maybe I was practice target du jour:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Maybe it was the same driver who also hit the fire hydrant. ::jester::

Won't work. Nobody believes that the blinker is indicating an actual turn, thus clogging up all the cars waiting behind.

Thanks for telling us this. My guess is the other driver was checking his cell phone and then took off with out even looking. It is good that you observed some odd behavior (sitting for a long time at a stop sign) and were ready to respond to whatever happened.

He was probably just enjoying having his head in a warm, dark place. I guess we all do that at times, but hopefully without endangering other people.