I beg the difference, I have seen cars backed up to CR466 before.

FWIW (not much), I agree on all points, particularly the negative effect on cart traffic from the attendant at the Morse/466 gate. My only concern there would be if indeed, as suggested, the traffic did back up dangerously on 466, the state or county would demand the gate be removed altogether. That would make it really dangerous to get across going south, during peak traffic times.

I vote to keep the gates. They are also needed to help protect the golf carts.

Monthly (?) Paper Delivery on Driveway - NOT Retrieved
 

RE: "Since 2007 your paper by the second delivery is picked up by CW taken to front door which in 99% of home is out of sight from road. The second consecutive day a phone call is placed that the paper has been delivered and not retrieved.

It’s just as much a helpful notification for short vacation than snowbirds."

*********************************

New snowbirder here - we had a paper delivered that we could see on our Ring camera. It was there for at least THREE WEEKS. (This is the first time I've heard they are supposed to be picked up by CW if not grabbed by the property owners. We also did not get a phone call from anyone about it ever, so if no CW is making calls for papers sitting on driveways in our area, at least.) We finally got a hold of our neighbor about it, and they grabbed it for us.

Another one was delivered again maybe a week later. We noticed our neighbor picked it up that same day. Such great neighbors! :-)

I obviously don't want to advertise to thieves that we're gone, and we never asked for a paper to be delivered. Not a fan of the delivery just due to snowbirding and thieves. Maybe there should be an OPTION to order a paper delivered when you buy a house there.

HOW do you unsubscribe from that monthly (or however often) paper that's delivered? WeI would like to unsubscribe.

Thanks, everyone!

They don't confuse anyone who understands that stop signs mean stop and wait for vehicles that don't have a stop sign.

I think the Morse/466 gate needs to be a separate issue, independent of what happens to all other gates. They are two vastly different discussions.
For all the other gates, either have them auto-open or get rid of them (my vote). I think the piles of stuff in the median cause more problems than gates "solve". The line of sight is blocked. Many places carts cannot see approaching cars. That alone should be justification for removal of gates and all those obstructions.

Yes, THIS! So UNSAFE for people in golf carts without gates there.
 

YEP! Absolutely needed. 100%.

Some of the entryways make it impossible to see cars coming to know when it's safe to cross in a golf cart. MOST, actually, due to the neighborhood signs blocking the view of cars coming.

Why aren't those signs higher up or farther from the golf cart crossing or something, so it's safe for golf carts to cross?

You can usually see from your golf cart if a gate is up or down, though, even if you can't see the actual car stopped behind the gate. Those gates are so valuable for crossing in a golf cart.

Anyway, I imagine these gates save people from countless car/golf cart accidents, including some deaths.



Also, WHY would they be talking about getting rid of this life-saving feature after all of these years? I think the usual "follow the money" theory explains this. Only reason I can see is so there's more money in the pockets of the people who sign the checks to pay the bills due on the gates.

And the homeowners surely won't ever see the CDD ("CDD"?) fee go down in accordance with that money saved.

Coming from the perspective of a bike rider, I'm grateful for the gates. Depending on the direction you're coming from, the attendant building blocks your view from seeing if there's a car coming. If I can see the gate is down I know I can safely cross. I don't care either way about having attendants. If they got rid of the gates altogether they would have to get rid of the buildings for visibility reasons. I know people hate them but speed bumps would be another option. They'd have to be reasonably aggressive though, as another poster mentioned, to force people to slow down. Personally, I prefer speed bumps over a gate. Then you don't have to mess with finding your card and rolling down your window.

Might be a little awkward w/o an attendant. Two lanes into one at the same time in such a short distance has to end up with problems.

Another vote for keep gates, no attendants. Unless it's a traffic hazard to not have an attendant, i.e. Morse and 466.

I keep hearing others say that the card readers have been "repaired" or "improved" somehow, but I can 100% confirm the readers entering Bradford almost have to be struck with the badge to work. By far the worst readers we've ever used after living in several different "gated" communities. Fix them or get rid of them, I'd prefer the former but the latter works.

Gate controversy
 

Keep the attendants and UPGRADE TO A TRANSPONDER SYSTEM

And that's fine if you are riding on the MMP and crossing the road at the gate. What do you think of this scenario that happened to me last month: Halfway across waiting for cars to pass at the Hillsborough/BV gate, turning left onto Hillsborough from south BV MMP, I watched the gate close (gatehouse blocks view of cars approaching), started to turn when a cyclist blew full speed right AROUND the gate from BV. I have the feeling that even though that cyclist was a moron, I would be liable if there was an accident.

Few issues
 

I see a few issues, one being speed control which I think could better be handled by speed cameras set with maybe a 5 mph buffer (e.g. 35 in 30 ok, 36 ticket), which is a lower setting than usual. Nothing slows people down like tickets in a state with high auto insurance rates!! The second issue is traffic control for carts/bike, and while the gates help somewhat throttle the flow, they're far from enough. For example, any busy evening trying to cross Meg at Sawgrass can be difficult because the traffic going through the two proxy gates going south and the 2 trip gates going north leave them mostly open one direction or another preventing safe crossing. At the busy crossings put in a "Walk" button to freeze the gates closed for carts/walkers/bikes for X-seconds would be better, since they would work like other street crossings that have buttons.

Lastly, transponders would be a much better solution so Emergency Vehicles could just have the gates open as they approach, and the same for the rest of us for the gates where the proxy card reader is less sensitive or when it's raining.

Exactly my point as well. If the traffic never backs up even close to 466, why are the gate attendants too lazy to turn around and check for golf cart backups behind them. Since automobile traffic never backs up near 466, why not periodically hold up the cars for a few seconds and let a few carts safely crossover?

I just heard confirmation today that the attendants are supposed to stop each car before it goes through the Visitor gate. Perhaps that is happening at 466 but my guess it is not and instead, as I have seen happen, the attendant simply waves the entire line through.

Even if they didn't periodically look at the carts waiting to turn, if they stopped each car coming in through the Visitor gate, or better yet, if they held up each car such that traffic through the two gates was staggered, it should really help the situation.

I would like to see the exit gate at Morse and 466 removed. What is the reason for that gate anyway? The gate is beyond where the golf carts cross northbound Morse Blvd to make their left turns. The gate at this location does nothing to help golf carts.

I don't mind getting me wet but I do mind getting the buttons on my driver door wet when the window is open and it is raining. This is why I never open my window to get through the gate. I hold my gate pass to the window and rest it where it won't fall. I'm glad the gates open every time. I just have to pull up close enough to the reader and that is not a problem as I have been doing that for several years.

I agree. What do people do when driving around and there are no gate attendants to answer their questions? Isn't that what map apps are for?

Actually, that gate does help. Since the cars have to slow down approaching the gate, it allows southbound golf carts a better opportunity to cross from the golf cart lane on the far right into the center median, where they again have to crossover against the northbound automobile traffic to get to the MMP. Golf carts face two separate and potentially dangerous crossovers going south.

Now, if that gate was moved in front of the golf cart crossing into the median strip, instead of well after it, that would be even more helpful.

Keep the gates to protect golf carts and lose the attendants.

The biggest flaw in the design at Morse and 466 is that the gatehouse/gates are a considerable distance from the cross-over for southbound carts. If the gatehouse/gates were moved to the north and abutted the cart cross-over(as they are at every other gate in The Villages), northbound vehicles would have to come to a stop and carts could proceed to cross-over. Of course, the best solution would be to eliminate the cross-over and install a tunnel for carts.

With the present design, N/B vehicles have a "running start" if the attendant waves them through and are at a high speed when they reach the cross-over. If they are not waved through and they do stop for the gate, the distance to the cross-over still provides a long distance during which the vehicles are accelerating.

An additional benefit of moving the gatehouse/gates so they abut the cart cross-over, is that it would create additional space between the gatehouse/gates and 466 and should eliminate any chance of a back-up of vehicles which could block traffic on 466.

This is the same problem with the location of the gate on Meggison just past Sawgrass Grove. Cars are almost up to full speed by the time they get to the MMP crossing---the gate needs to be moved about 200 feet east.

I personally LIKE the attendants being there and hope they get to stay!

I do NOT agree with un-manned gates at the MAJOR intersections.

Your example of the Spanish Springs gate at Morse and Rt 466 is the #1 example of keeping a human (male or female) operator in the loop.

The golf cart crossing just North of the gate is a disaster. The southbound cart crossover is an accident just waiting to happen. And carts going North, but quickly turning left into Bazarra Ct is also dangerous.

The gate attendants there do need to look BACKWARDS (to the North) to check for cart backlog before letting cars through.

Better solution is to move the cart crossover much further North. There is space on the East side of Morse...

Now, unmanned gates for other specific villages is fine as long as there isn't a lot of car/truck traffic.

Smile please!
 

For people without Villages ID, taking a photo of license plate and driver at gate is a better crime deterrent than gate attendants. Slowing traffic at gate long enough to push a button gives enough time for photo.

Perfect suggestion
 

Keep the gates, just remove the need for cards and have them open when a car approaches, just like when exiting. Reduce but not eliminate Gate attendants to certain locations.

You are rather missing the point of your own argument.

The reason that you have never seen the traffic backed up is BECAUSE the attendant has left the gate open until the rush of traffic clears.

No attendant = more time for each car to clear = backed up traffic.

Once the traffic flow is back to normal, the attendant operates that gate for each vehicle.

Keep it as is.

Realistically, The Villages are not going to just scrap all the gate infrastructure. Not a serious option. :rolleyes:

Ditch the gate attendants. Total waste of funds. I’m fully capable of pressing the little red button or waiving my proximity card.

I hope you are aware there are cameras all over the country that are called ALPR. Stands for automatic license plate reader. They capture the plate from moving vehicles of any speed, day and night. No need to slow down or stop. Having a gate for that purpose is not needed, and is not a justification to keep gates.

They are everywhere. Stand alone systems nationwide that law enforcement uses to find people. Toll collection systems. Parking lot surveillance. etc

Eliminate the Gate Guards. They really serve no purpose, except to provide a friendly wave when they are on their feet and not sitting inside. Keep the gates to facilitate golf cart crossings.

Not necessarily……

Late to the party here, but what is the objective of eliminating the attendants? Does anyone really believe that by doing so there will be a reduction in fees Villagers pay? I'd bet rates would remain the same and there would just be unattended gates. So, no benefit at all.

Had the two way cart path that runs along Morse been continued past Soledad all the way down they wouldn't have to do the crossover. It's a mystery to me why they didn't. There was more than enough room and the utilities could have been underneath just like the BV MMP.

The attendants are paid from amenity fees. Amenity fees will only be adjusted down due to deflation.

If there is money saved by no longer having attendants it will be used for another purpose like paying down debt, building a reserve, or finding another use for the displaced employees. Perhaps some of the attendants could be stationed at problem-child pools for more frequent ID checks.

I agree. Just leave it as is. It's working.

Think about it. There’s about 150 village entries within The Villages. Every one of them has a cross path for Golf Carts. The gates act like a stop sign for the cars. They create breaks for the carts to safely cross.

Can you imagine how many Golf Cart/auto crashes per week there would be if the gates were removed and the cars flew through at 35MPH or faster? Please stop with the Gate removal nonsense. It will never happen.

I have lived in that area for 16 years and on several occasions have seen the line backed up to 466, even with the gate permanently open and the attendant waving everyone through - some people insist on slowing down regardless. I can only imagine how bad it would have been with no attendant and the gate going up and down for each vehicle.

However, as others have stated, that gate is exceptional and each gate really needs to be considered separately, rather than imposing a "one size fits all" solution on them all.

More than once, a gate attendent has risk my safety in a golf cart leaving a gate up at an entrance I can't see the car coming.

I would happily trade gate attendents for additional people to verify people using recreational facilities are residents.