Saddlebrook Multi-Modal Tunnel Closure
 

VCDD e-Notification
The multi-modal path tunnel located under Buena Vista Boulevard at the Saddlebrook Recreation Center will be closed for stucco repairs beginning Monday, August 14, 2017. This work is anticipated to take approximately four (4) weeks. Please use caution in this area and follow the directional signage to the tunnel at Belvedere Boulevard for crossing under CR 466. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact District Property Management at (352) 753-4022.

WOW 4 weeks for stucco repair?? I could dig a new freaking tunnel in a week... I'll be calling tomorrow... I don't mind a little detour but from anywere N of Saddlebrook it will take about 20/30 minutes extra to go all the way over and thru the Belvedere tunnel and then back track down Parr Dr. I don't know why they don't allow golf carts to cross temporarily at the traffic light at Saddlebrook like they do on El Camino Real

OOoo NO, now all my Tee-times leave'in the house will be mess-up.....:mad:

20 to 30 minutes is a bit to much. Should be no more than 10 minutes. My concern is all the additional traffic on Wedgewood Lane. The STOP SIGN by the Shell station is NOT a 4-way stop. Be careful of cars/trucks turning onto Wedgewood. They sometimes cut the corner short.

So if you are playing 18 holes at Saddlebrook, it's going to take a half hour cart ride to get from the 1st nine to the next nine? Why can't they use the stop light at the polo field to cross like they have been for years at the light at Santiago and Alhambra which is only 1/2 mile down the road?

:what: You're thinking of the wrong tunnel.


Note:

I was thinking of the WRONG TUNNEL. Sorry...my bad!

chiloutWho you going to call? Be sure to let us know how you make out.
Note to self.... add being in charge of detours to bucket list. :blahblahblah::blahblahblah::blahblahblah:

No he's not. 9 at Saddlebrook and 9 at Hawkes Bay, across the road.

REALLY!! 10 MINUTES .... you need to take the ride yourself from near the Savannah center tunnel and back track to Saddlebrook... try to do it in less than 20 min. let me know how you do

You guys are right...tunnel under BV that connects Saddlebrook and Hawkes Bay. Seems like they could make temporary allowance for carts to cross BV at the light on Southern trace rather going way around. At first reading, I thought they were talking about tunnel under 466 that connects Laurel Manor to Saddlebrook.


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My first reaction is that they are checking tunnel by tunnel carefully and being sure they are sound in every way AND fixing the stucco and repainting. I wouldn't want any tunnel to fall in on us, would you? chilout

This too shall pass........................

So I can golf cart to the Polo Fields but that is about as far as I can get going north because that tunnel which is extremely low under BV is being repaired? I do not believe a 5' 9" person could even stand in that tunnel?

How tall are golf carts? Maybe they are making it taller?

They vary. Mine is around 5. feet 10 inches. Some are over six feet. I just feel claustrophobic when using this tunnel.

Maybe it is higher than I thought?? The tunnel I mean?

IMO one of the biggest waste of money yet, why would you put stucco on concrete tunnel face. JUST PAINT THE CONCRETE. Now I could see if the tunnel was in plain view or near the million dollar homes but where it can't be seen waste IMO. Beside Carts are just going to Damage the corners anyway cutting the corners too close with the jacked up carts. I read some where the cost was 60K plus for one tunnel. Even it you buy S & W paint the cost would maybe 3k with labor. I sure in the near future the monthly fees will have to go up to cover the costs. OK, lets here how important stucco on the tunnels is. :what:

That would be lots more that work that time and money allotted. I imagine they are tearing the old stucco off the face of the tunnels and redoing them. otherwise it wouldn't take that long to repair were the carts have knocked it off on the corners.

This is a hard tunnel to explain unless you have seen it. I believe that the painting would fit in with the upgrade of the Saddlebrook Recreation Center. It is very hard to take the this tunnel fast because of the safety precautions on its East end. The West end might cause some problems to those coming out of the tunnel too quickly.

I am not sure how some of the two seat 4 passenger longer golf carts can get through this tunnel? It is quite a tight fit IMHO.

It is also hard to turn slowly and carefully into the tunnel from the east (?) side with my longer bodied four seater golf cart. My bet is that "they" are going to improve it and they just "said" they are going to stucco it because that wouldn't get everyone's knicker in a hitch. I am so grateful I am not the Morse business. I wouldn't have the patience for all this stuff from folks who really don't know and always think the worst.

So. A four seater golf cart can get in on the East side. I had wondered about that as it is quite a tight turn with the concrete divider there. I use this tunnel once in a while when taking Beau to the Polo Field and then returning home through Southern Trace.

Wise words, but this is The Villages.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YTnWwtgfB7...OnDeafEars.gif

Kinda hard to move the concrete wall on the east to make more room unless they take the lane separator so The 4 seaters facing fwd can make the wide turn. I bet they do nothing but redo the stucco?????

There are few tunnels visual, like the on at Chula Vista, most are not and if your watching the road you don't see the front fascia of the tunnel anyway.

:confused:Smith and Wesson makes paint? I didn't know!

[QUOTE=graciegirl;1433694]It is also hard to turn slowly and carefully into the tunnel from the east (?) side with my longer bodied four seater golf cart. My bet is that "they" are going to improve it and they just "said" they are going to stucco it because that wouldn't get everyone's knicker in a hitch. I am so grateful I am not the Morse business. I wouldn't have the patience for all this stuff from folks who really don't know and always think the worst.[/QUOTE]

lol...as in your post...what does repairing the tunnels have to do with the Morse's business?? I called this morning and spoke to a manager at the District Office and asked why they wouldn't allow temporary crossing at the traffic light, he told me that it was against the law for golf carts to cross any Rd. with a speed limit 35mph and over... I replied really??? Then I asked how they are able to do it on El Camino Real and Enrique Dr. ... his reply was they cant an if they are doing it they are breaking the law. I then told him I'm sorry but you are wrong they have been dong it for several years... He then told me If I was correct that he would look into it and get back with me...

[QUOTE=ureout;1433822]The petty bureaucrat you spoke to is incorrect. Sumter County is the approving authority, not VCDD, and they approved the crossing at Alhambra in this document in 2011

http://www.sumtercountyfl.gov/Agenda...lf%20Carts.pdf

Crossing at the light could be a temporary solution but you'll never see it as permanent because if it was, NOBODY would ever use the tunnel and would prove to be a huge waste. IMO, the tunnel could be permanently eliminated along with filling in the associated ramps, and approval granted to cross at the light as they do for Alhambra and Santiago. How much nicer that would be. It would cost a bit but it wouldn't be the 1st time huge chunks of money has been put into tunnel modifications, such as the tunnel at Freedom Pointe by eliminating the north ramp.

I am betting the one under 466 will get the same treatment soon resulting in a cumulative closure of eight weeks. The way I look at is that the infrastructure is being maintained and I can live with the detour. I don't play those two courses because I cannot afford to spend that much money on mosquito repellent.

[QUOTE=Rapscallion St Croix;1433825]Nice piece of detective work!

:agree:

Me too. That Rapscallion is smart but doesn't show off about it. I am a FAN of that guy. In a way Mrs. Scallion would approve.

Whether the 'allow' crossing on Saddlebrook across BV to Southern Trace or not, unless the cops are posted there... people will be doing just that. I know I will be.

In fact, when I first moved here I missed the semi-hidden cart path leading to the tunnel and did exactly that more than a couple of times. There is a traffic signal there, so it's not all that dangerous anyway. :shrug:

A neighbor told me of their grandson who did some roof damage to their normal sized golf cart, by not swinging wide enough while entering from the east side.

You can look at the crown (corner of the arch) when entering the tunnel from the east and see where many people have done the exact same thing and hit the sides of their roofs. I always hug the left wall before turning, as it is one of the tightest fits of any of the tunnels in TV.

My guess is that they will either be moving the left side wall back so that a wider arc can be made entering the east side of the tunnel, or they will shave off a little of the east corner entering the tunnel so it's not so square... or if they're smart, doing BOTH.

Sounds like good ideas. Can you imagine what this tunnel is like for golf carts that are higher than 6 feet?

[QUOTE=ColdNoMore;1433900]Whether the 'allow' crossing on Saddlebrook across BV to Southern Trace or not, unless the cops are posted there... people will be doing just that. I know I will be.


that makes 2 of us

Few skeeter's north of the mason Dixon line. There all south where the swamps are:pepper2:

Almost all tunnels have the damage. I doubt they will be cutting into or grinding off any structure of the tunnels. Besides the only thing that get damage on the tunnels is the STUCCO. Nothing wrong with the design that was made for normal golf cart with 8 inch wheels years ago It's bad drivers and carts that been jacked up with suspension lifts, 12, and 14 inch tires.

You've obviously never been to northern Canada or Alaska.

Those mosquito's are like blue whales...compared to the pan fish down here.

In the Yukon/Northwest Territories and Alaska, any repellent with less than 90% Deet...is called 'skeeter candy.'

Even then, a 'mosquito head net' is still mandatory.

http://cdni.llbean.net/is/image/wim/...ei=200&wid=174

The line I was referring to was 466


Cause the sun shines 22 hours in day, everything grows bigger up there?:bowdown:

Those mosquitoes in Minneapolis were quite large as well.

Fortunately, I do not see many mosquitoes here in the Villages because of their spraying.

It will be interesting to see what they have done with the Saddlebrook Buena Vista tunnel in five weeks or so.

Ok, I'll add some duct tape, can't believe I have to explain S (Sherwin) & W (Williams) you know the HIGH piced paint used exclusively in the villages?:0000000000luvmyhors

Two Cents
 

I am adding my two cents. I am not sure why the frantic reaction to what is probably normal maintenance that the managers of the Villages are not over looking! We were required to drive our cart a bit longer when they repaired the Tunnel at the end of Parr Drive. We have the option of using the car if we had a need for speed but most of the time we just took the extra time and drove the cart. Unless I am wrong most of the complainers are "retired" yet can't stop hurrying. They are the same ones that push by you in the market, speed by you in a car on the road, blow their horns, etc. I think it is healthy to slow them down by making the ride longer and slower. By helping them to adjust to retirement. Of course allowing an additional 20 minutes for appointments, tee times is not a life and death problem but will extend life by slowing the "hurry habit" down a bit. A couple of weeks ago some "hurry upper" gave me a bad hand single because I didn't back out of a space faster. Now that person must really be fun to live with. The best advise for these unfortunate residents is to "SLOW DOWN, ENJOY LIFE AND BE RESPECTABLE TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NOT HAVING A SCHEDULE. REMEMBER "SLOW" IS ALSO A FOUR LETTER WORD.:icon_hungry: