[npwalters]

sadly this is was a dead issue when Sumter county refused to share any part of the cost. The basic problem, however, was the poor vision by the developers that put cars and carts on the same major thoroughfare. Fortunately they learned that lesson south of 466,

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Never understood why Morse is a two land road north of 466 and Buena Vista build as four land road.

Morse blvd (North section) was designed way before all of the expansion of the Villages, and probably worked very well 20 years ago. The current problems are the greatly increased automobile traffic as well as golf cart traffic, and the general lack of common courtesy by ALL parties, compounded by inattentive driving by ALL parties. Just my humble opinion.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Based on these observations/conclusions, I say leave things the way they currently are, or significantly downsize the project and try to find a way to improve the crossover for southbound traffic just north of the 466 gate.

Totally agree. We use that section of Morse on a daily basis and have never had an accident but can see that some people would find some bits scary. My experience is that speeding vehicles cause most problems (especially near the gates - totally ignoring the reduced speed limit there) and they come up so fast. There should be more policing of the posted limits, and maybe make the "reduced" limit signs more visible.

My suggestion for the "bottom" of Morse near 466 would be to have the cart path pull off to the right then sharp left to abut Morse, at which point carts would have to give way to traffic coming along Morse before crossing those lanes to the middle.

At the junction with San Marino, going north on Morse and wanting to turn left, if the traffic behind us is just too crazy we turn right on San Marino then do a 180° and wait for the lights to turn green. Takes more time but safer than trying to pull out into fast-moving traffic that refuses to give way to golf carts.

No cheap/easy solution for coming out of the Post Office and turning left, but at least the Morse/San Marino lights should turn red in a reasonable time and give you a temporary break from traffic from the left, at least.

Little point in spending $millions which no-one is happy to pay and end up with something that is overly complicated.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

At the junction with San Marino, going north on Morse and wanting to turn left, if the traffic behind us is just too crazy we turn right on San Marino then do a 180° and wait for the lights to turn green. Takes more time but safer than trying to pull out into fast-moving traffic that refuses to give way to golf carts.

LOL, I do the same thing at that light, except it’s going left onto San Marino when traveling south on Morse. That dam light takes a full minute and a half between cycles to cross Morse. At least at night the light has a headlight sensor and quickly changes green if there is no traffic on Morse.

[dhdallas]

If you want to improve safety then just spend a few days breathalyzing every golf cart driver. The police will probably need several large transport vans per day for all the drunken cart drivers. Of course they just let them out on bail to re-offend but it's a start. If the cart drivers would stay just sober, pay attention, and have a little patience there would be very few crashes.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by I'm Popeye!

From my experience, slow-driving traffic creates more traffic...
Golf cart speeding over 20 MPH from 441 to 466 has nothing to do with traffic on Morse Blvd...
Maybe fixing the golf cart cross-over at 466 would help...

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Absolutely true. Slow drivers cause more accidents than speeders

I think we are talking about different things. I was talking about enforcing the 30mph speed limit for cars. I agree that a golf cart going a few miles over the 20mph limit does not increase the danger appreciably.

I agree that drivers going less than the speed limit, or not moving with the traffic flow in the faster, left lanes of an interstate are a hazard.

However, with the golf carts on the stretch of road we are talking about, and the need due to the design of the road, for carts to cross from the cart lane to make left turns, and the overall congestion of the road during busy times (which is just about always during the peak months), enforcing the posted speed limits would make it safer and help alleviate some of the concerns that the proposed MMP would address. And it would do it a far lesser cost than either of the proposals on the table right now.

[CSB1228]

Gate keepers CANNOT let traffic back up to 466. It would help if they occasionally looked and held the entering cars for at least a minute.

[mtomlinson]

One simple solution to the Morse/CR466 golf cart crossing at busy times would be to let one Guest pass through for every two Residents. This would cause a gap every three cars that would be enough to let a golf cart cross. Cost = ZERO. The gate operators currently have no responsibility for golf cart traffic and are not even aware that there is a line desperately trying to cross. You'll never fix stupid but that should fix the main problem on that stretch of road.

[Hpy2BHere]

Doesn't anyone think adding speed bumps to Morse would help slow the traffic down?

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by dhdallas

If you want to improve safety then just spend a few days breathalyzing every golf cart driver. The police will probably need several large transport vans per day for all the drunken cart drivers. Of course they just let them out on bail to re-offend but it's a start. If the cart drivers would stay just sober, pay attention, and have a little patience there would be very few crashes.

I can promise you that the lady - a friend of mine - that died in a golf cart accident on Morse recently was not drunk or drinking.

[cjrjck]

That stretch of a road is a recipe for disaster. Perhaps the most dangerous in TV. Being so close to 466, the gate personnel try to keep northbound traffic flowing through the two lanes to prevent it backing up to 466. They are most concerned, understandably, with timing the left lane (manual gate) with the resident right lane gate to keep traffic moving. The two northbound lanes then merge into one lane right at the golf cart crossover. So northbound traffic is most focused on ensuring a smooth merge. I've sat there trying to cross the northbound lane in a golf cart during peak traffic and it can get very testy. Dangerously testy. I have seen some very close calls there. It would never be designed that way today unless you were sadistic and enjoyed watching the chaos. Leaving it the way it is not morally viable. Short of building a tunnel, I can't see an alternative other than moving the crossover further north and creating a way to control traffic flow allowing a safe crossing.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by cjrjck

That stretch of a road is a recipe for disaster. Perhaps the most dangerous in TV. Being so close to 466, the gate personnel try to keep northbound traffic flowing through the two lanes to prevent it backing up to 466. They are most concerned, understandably, with timing the left lane (manual gate) with the resident right lane gate to keep traffic moving. The two northbound lanes then merge into one lane right at the golf cart crossover. So northbound traffic is most focused on ensuring a smooth merge. I've sat there trying to cross the northbound lane in a golf cart during peak traffic and it can get very testy. Dangerously testy. I have seen some very close calls there. It would never be designed that way today unless you were sadistic and enjoyed watching the chaos. Leaving it the way it is not morally viable. Short of building a tunnel, I can't see an alternative other than moving the crossover further north and creating a way to control traffic flow allowing a safe crossing.

Perhaps the gate attendants should be more concerned about a safe flow of traffic north of the gate and not worry about traffic backing up. There is a light and turn lanes on 466 to hold the additional traffic safely south of the gate. North of the gate there is a merge and a crossing making it less safe.

Bonus to letting traffic back up to 466: A backup on 466 will generate more complaints to Sumter County to find ways to fix the problem. We may not like whatever fix they come up with, but maybe something is better than the nothing that is happening now.

[ROCKETMAN]

I agree with everything you wrote. Way to expensive to make a separate path. Just wished they would have built a tunnel at the crossover closer to 466. Maybe that’s one thing they could do.

[brakmarh]

I haven’t read the report, but I think the existing system would work a bit better if traffic was “metered“ more rigorously. The gates and the person controlling entering traffic should always look towards the Golf Carts to see if someone is waiting. Perhaps the gates could be replaced with an alternating traffic signal as they do at some locations entering a freeway.

[PVR]

The other answers is for golf carts to WAIT to cross over until no cars are coming and safely go to the middle safe area and continue when that side is clear.
Instead of putting your hand out signaling that you are coming over without waiting for an opening in traffic. WAIT not everyone is watching for your hand and may not stop for you. Golf carts do NOT have the right of way.