It's too bad the developer doesn't use their considerable pull with the counties and turn it into an actual gated community, get rid of the red buttons and put an attendant at every gate.

The developer turned them over to the county some time ago. Imagine the maintenance fee increase that would be necessary if the CDDs were responsible for all the roads and not just the villa roads.

I guess you don't cross the roads with a golf cart.

The gates are there so golf carts have a chance of crossing without getting hit !

Ok, I am not sure I knew that but we are talking about golf carts that want to increase the speed of their ride, ride down the main public road with no lights or taillights on in the dark and rain while passing the cart in front of them? My experience on the carts has been the gates and gate house along with all the shrubbery and such around the gate house add to the blind side of trying to get across the driveway's in a cart. Forget about talking about carts that dart out in front of me when I enter a gate in my car (and not the ones on the blind side either). Lastly, if the gates do not serve as a “gated community” but rather traffic control then why do I need a gate card that I have to pay TV for to enter but not to exit (since not a “secure” community)?

No that I care at all, but I would think that whomever fixes/maintains the gates gets the money to fix/maintain said gates...

The person you're responding to said bicycles "blow around the gates". I've never seen a golf cart to this... Plus, I don't think it's even possible to do!

Now, if you want to start a separate discussion about failing to stop at stop signs, have at it...

Trust me, no one is afraid to say what you just said. They just know better...

I thought we were talking about the majority of the walkers, bikers, and cart drivers that use the MMP and cross at the gatehouses. These people do not care about increasing their speed or driving with no lights or taillights in the dark and besides, what does any of that have to do with the purpose of the gates?


The number of lanes at these gatehouses (normally three) and amount of traffic is the reason the gates are needed. All the obstructions are part of providing the required gates. The "blind side" aspect of all of this is mitigated by the gates - carts from either side can see if the gates are moving up or if the gates are closed and then react accordingly.

Dart out as you enter a gate in your car? If you mean a cart that crosses in front of an open gate then yeah, that might be a problem. If you mean a cart that is moving across as your gate is opening then no harm, no foul - it may frustrate you to see the cart but since you are still waiting for the gate, the cart is not impeding your progress at all. Like any intersection, you can enter as soon as the intersection is clear - if you were approaching the gate or stopped at the gate then the intersection was clear for the cart to enter.

The gates do not serve to gate the community off from the public. Except for some Villa streets, these are all city/county roads. You don't need a gate card, you can press the red button; the cards just make things a little easier. Perhaps you could turn the cards back in for a refund of whatever you paid for them. Customer Service would be a place to start looking into that.

Excellent post. Clearly defines how changing entry gates to automatically open like the exit gates would make things so much better (for everyone, especially for the card haters), without compromising the reason so many advocate for keeping gates. No cards needed is better for everybody.

Has anyone ever been stuck behind a delivery truck driver crawling out of the driver seat to get to the red button?

LOL! same for mini me out the truck window!

The biggest problem I can see with automatically opening entry gates would be more gate strikes.

Exit gates typically stay up between cars. Not always, and I've almost hit a couple when they automatically closed, but many will stay up while a line of cars exit. Drivers get used to that.

Entry gates would still need to come down between each car to allow photographing the license plate and to provide spacing between vehicles. However, if they opened automatically, just like exit gates, then drivers will expect them to stay open, just like exit gates, and when they don't there will be gate strikes. If the driver needs to press the button or present a card then he knows the gate will be coming down and shouldn't try to make it through without stopping first.

Cameras are not activated by gates or red buttons.
They record a continuous loop of entry and exit gates.

:rolleyes: Have to ask..... How long were you stuck? Day, day and a half, maybe longer? :a20: People in a hurry are one of the MAIN PROBLEMS around here. Everyone needs to slow down and smell the flowers. (Hell we pay to change them out 4 times a year) :oops:

My thoughts are that the exit gates are not necessary. The cart paths are BEFORE the exit gates so the gates don't serve any purpose for traffic control. The exit gates on Morse Blvd., just north of 466 are certainly not necessary. Vehicles at that gate are approaching a traffic light at Morse and 466 which is just a few yards ahead. What is the need to be stopped by a gate when there are no golf carts at that point anyway. The golf carts cross Morse BEFORE the exit gates.