[wfp113]

The speed limit on Morse Blvd north of 466 is 30 mph and has a golf cart lane. Seldom do you ever see any vehicle going below 35-45 mph and if law enforcement would happen to pull the vehicle over they usually only warn them. The Sumter Co. Sherrifis deputies need to patrol the area and enforce the speed limit.

wfp113

[lpkruege1]

Originally Posted by Laker14

I agree with you. However, sometimes traffic patterns are either stupidly and dangerously designed, or, as in the case of the crossover southbound at 466, have become more dangerous than necessary due to changes in volume over time.

So while I agree that we shouldn't over-react in order to try to make it safe for the complete idiot (who always seems to defeat those efforts anyway) there may be some reasonable action to make that area safer.

In the meantime, I'm with you. Go slowly, keep your head on a swivel, and watch out for the idiots.

I travel Morse probably twice a week. Last winter I had a car decide to pass on golf cart lane. A different time someone tried to beat the oncoming car traffic and pulled out in front of my golf cart. Both times I had to slam on the breaks. I'm certain one was a resident of one of the villages, but both were definitely idiots. Is someone else's life really that much important than these idiots. I agree with you 100% you need to assume they won't stop, and they're idiots.

[jmsturm]

I was born and raised in NYC. I drove the streets of NYC, first by bicycle and then by car. In comparison Morse Blvd is very safe. When I drive a vehicle, no matter what type, my philosophy is to always be courteous and drive AWARE. I am constantly checking my mirrors to see who is around me and who is approaching. With that info make smart decisions for you and those around you. When in doubt YIELD! Be careful and drive safely. I am retired and not in a rush. I do not live in CDD 1 so I have no horse in this race other than inconvenience.

[I'm Popeye!]

Originally Posted by wfp113

The speed limit on Morse Blvd north of 466 is 30 mph and has a golf cart lane. Seldom do you ever see any vehicle going below 35-45 mph and if law enforcement would happen to pull the vehicle over they usually only warn them. The Sumter Co. Sherrifis deputies need to patrol the area and enforce the speed limit.

wfp113

Why? Would you rather see them going 15 MPH....
I'm on that road most of the time, but I will not exaggerate by saying vehicles going 45 MPH on it...

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by 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.

Strongly agree that something needs to be done to stagger the automobile traffic flow which will create openings for golf carts to crossover. Currently, just about every gate operator is totally oblivious to the back up of golf carts behind them and just lets cars through the gates as fast as possible. Often, the gate operator keeps both gates open and just flips their stop sigh back and forth to alternate cars going through the gates so fast there is no way for a cart to crossover. If the gates were required to always be manually operated, with a forced delay between openings, the sequence could easily be calibrated to create the necessary opportunities for carts to crossover.

On another note, when I go through that gate in a car, which isn’t often, I always stop in front of the crossover and let several golf carts through. The smiles, waves, and thank you gestures I receive from cart drivers makes me so happy i can easily ignore the a holes behind me in cars beeping at me : )

[pauld315]

Originally Posted by deano_hoosier

From Table 1, page 9 of the study -- I guess I was surprised to see the traffic volume over the 2017-23 period had not grown. I was under the assumption that it surely had. Also found curious the difference volumes between northbound on Morse from 466 and southbound from El Camino Real. Could that be explained by the number of northbound vehicles that head east on Rio Grande from the northbound flow? The biggest problem I have is getting out of the postal station to head north on Morse. You really need luck to make that move - or wait till the evening hours to make the postal station run.


Existing Traffic Patterns
Sumter County collects annual traffic counts along County maintained roadways. The five-year traffic trends along Morse Boulevard show a daily traffic volume of approximately 11,000 vehicles per day south of El Camino Real and
approximately 20,000 vehicles per day north of C 466. The recorded traffic volumes are relatively consistent with no growth between years 2017 and 2020. The recorded traffic volumes in year 2022 showed a decrease in traffic over the prior years. Traffic volumes recorded in 2023 were consistent with the 2017 to 2020 recorded volumes.
The peak travel periods of the day are between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Sumter County recorded golf cart volumes along Morse Boulevard between the years of 2017 and 2020, which showed between 2,000 and 2,200 golf carts per day in addition to the automobile traffic volumes.

Table 1 - Traffic Volumes on Morse Boulevard
Location 2017 Auto Volume 2023 Auto Volume 2020 Golf Cart Volume
South of El Camino Real 12,551 vpd 11,329 vpd n/a
North of C 466 19,506 vpd 16,966 vpd (2022) 2,040 vp

The reason for that in terms of auto traffic is because the entrance at 466 is and has been at capacity so the numbers will never rise significantly. You can only funnel so many cars per hour through there

[pauld315]

Originally Posted by jmsturm

I was born and raised in NYC. I drove the streets of NYC, first by bicycle and then by car. In comparison Morse Blvd is very safe. When I drive a vehicle, no matter what type, my philosophy is to always be courteous and drive AWARE. I am constantly checking my mirrors to see who is around me and who is approaching. With that info make smart decisions for you and those around you. When in doubt YIELD! Be careful and drive safely. I am retired and not in a rush. I do not live in CDD 1 so I have no horse in this race other than inconvenience.

This is the country, not NYC

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

As a resident of CDD1 who frequently travels Morse Blvd (especially between the intersections with San Marino and 466) I have a strong interest in this issue. I just finished an exhaustive review of the Kimberly Horn Report outlining the situation as well as the two proposed modifications to the current traffic system. My conclusions are as follows, from the prospective of a golf cart driver:

- Unlike many others, I don’t find the current system to be that bad. The only part of the existing system I really dislike is the crossover for south bound cart traffic just north of the gate leading to 466.
- The benefits of the two proposed traffic modifications (separating golf carts from automobile traffic and bicycle traffic (under one alternative), and eliminating the crossover north of the 466 gate), are far outweighed by the disadvantages (multiple stops created at road crossings as well as a nightmarish crossover of Morse south of San Marino and north of the Postal Station).
- The work required for either alternative will be very disruptive for an extended period of time and significantly change the character of the existing mature area.
- The modifications required under either alternative would be very disruptive to many unfortunate abutters to the involved areas (it wouldn’t affect me).
-Sumter County wants nothing to do with the project, making permitting and cost sharing a very difficult task.
- Both of the proposed traffic modifications are expensive and it appears the cost burden would be solely that of the 3,400 CDD1 residents at a cost of roughly $4,500 per residency. And that’s before the typical cost overruns.

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.

That’s one persons opinion, I’m sure others will be different.

I had the similar thoughts. Move the crossover farther north from the gate at cr 466. Enable ways to enforce the speed limit in high-volume areas, like rumble strips, annoying but effective.

[biker59]

Do you have a link to the report?

[jmaccallum]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

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.

There hasn’t been any traffic increase over the years as shown in the study. In fact there was a decrease in one year. Sheesh! Read the report! Let go of the false traffic increase narrative.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by biker59

Do you have a link to the report?

There is a link in an article on the online news website that TOTV won’t allow posting a link to. The website URL starts with Villages, has a dash in between, then ends with news.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by jmaccallum

There hasn’t been any traffic increase over the years as shown in the study. In fact there was a decrease in one year. Sheesh! Read the report! Let go of the false traffic increase narrative.

It’s a built out mature area so presumably traffic levels should be constant. Oh wait, they are building Villas where the Hacienda Hills clubhouse used to be and apartments in Spanish Springs. Never mind !

[HandyGrandpap]

Originally Posted by biker59

Do you have a link to the report?

This link should work, the report starts on page 34 or so. If it does not work, at least we tried, thank you

District 1 Agenda Packet.pdf - Google Drive

There was an meeting last friday and another one Aug 30. Folks were asked to wear red shirts.
Wednesday, August 30, 6pm to 8pm, La Hacienda, Town Hall on the Morse Blvd engineering report.

Cut and past from the meeting notice:
"Wear your red shirt. Contact Jim Vaccaro by cell (585-755-3151) or email (jvacc1949@gmail.com) with questions".

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by I'm Popeye!

Why? Would you rather see them going 15 MPH....
I'm on that road most of the time, but I will not exaggerate by saying vehicles going 45 MPH on it...

It's not an exaggeration at all. I know at least one person who sometimes hits 45mph - and that person would be me. I also know there are people who go faster than 45mph - and that would be whoever passes me, while I'm going 45.

Doesn't happen often and usually it's at the point where the road splits into another lane in each direction, but it does happen

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by jmaccallum

There hasn’t been any traffic increase over the years as shown in the study. In fact there was a decrease in one year. Sheesh! Read the report! Let go of the false traffic increase narrative.

I don't have anything to say. Just wanted to create a second chance for people to see your comment. No traffic increase folks.