[redwitch]

I'm sure the residents on Addison, etc. will be thrilled with an increase of golf cart traffic (not like they don't get more than their share right now). Actually, I've seen many more on the Addison route than I've ever seen on Oak Forest. And, yes, I take both, depending on where I'm going. The Buena Vista golf cart path is just too bumpy to take and I avoid it if at all possible. So, if going toward Laurel Manor, I take Oak Forest. If going towards Crispers, the library or the like, Addison.

I do try to be considerate of the residents on the "shortcut" streets. However, I will admit that I am now much more polite on Addison, Davenport, etc. than Oak Forest. For residents of Caribe, Azteca, Addison, Davenport, etc. I will happily stop and let their cars back out of their driveways so long as it is safe. To me, the arrogance of Oak Forest residents demanding that traffic not go down THEIR street pretty much turned me off to any sympathy for these people. I know that sounds petty but I doubt I'm the only one feeling this way.

Originally Posted by redwitch

I'm sure the residents on Addison, etc. will be thrilled with an increase of golf cart traffic (not like they don't get more than their share right now). Actually, I've seen many more on the Addison route than I've ever seen on Oak Forest. And, yes, I take both, depending on where I'm going. The Buena Vista golf cart path is just too bumpy to take and I avoid it if at all possible. So, if going toward Laurel Manor, I take Oak Forest. If going towards Crispers, the library or the like, Addison.

I do try to be considerate of the residents on the "shortcut" streets. However, I will admit that I am now much more polite on Addison, Davenport, etc. than Oak Forest. For residents of Caribe, Azteca, Addison, Davenport, etc. I will happily stop and let their cars back out of their driveways so long as it is safe. To me, the arrogance of Oak Forest residents demanding that traffic not go down THEIR street pretty much turned me off to any sympathy for these people. I know that sounds petty but I doubt I'm the only one feeling this way.

I did not know that Addison went anywhere? From the Villages 08 map it looks to be a dead end?

The Villages 2004 map shows a shortcut from Buena Vista Blvd just south of the Harold S. Schwartz Wildlife Preserve through Panchos Way and into Village Santiago but when I tried to use this shortcut a few years ago they had sealed off Panchos Way??

The 2008 Villages map shows Panchos Way as a dead end.

[villager99]

there is a short golf cart connecting trailat the end of addison that you can use to get to davenport and out to the sumerhill pool and then on to southern trace shopping etc.
it's a golf car only way to avoid the polo ridge stretch of oak forest.

Originally Posted by villager99

there is a short golf cart connecting trailat the end of addison that you can use to get to davenport and out to the sumerhill pool and then on to southern trace shopping etc.
it's a golf car only way to avoid the polo ridge stretch of oak forest.

Thanks, villager99. I have not been near there on a golf cart anyway.

Did notice that the circle at the end of Addison on the 2008 Villages map is open and not shut and had wondered about that. :bigthumbsup:

[bymar]

I do not live on Oak Forest but I can see they are getting a bad wrap. The facts are that the people of Oak Forest went to the county commissioners to ask for help first with the speed and also the volume of traffic. No one from that street suggested anything and were as surprised as everyone else when the signs went up. I hope everyone hears this. They were as surprised as everyone else. The signs were the idea of the county commissioners, not the people of Oak Forest.

It's to bad that some spread rumors that the people that live there were responsible. Again, it is the county commissioners responsibility to provide safety to their citizens and they must have thought this was needed. I hope this correct news gets spread as quickly as the rumors.

There are a lot of streets that need help but most have golf cart lanes.

It is interesting that someone thinks Davenport is as busy as Oak Forest. I don't know how many think this but go and have the county commissioners do a study. Of course it doesn't matter what the study suggest, they are now afraid to do anything. Also, Davenport has a 15 mph speed limit!

For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go down Oak Forest if there was another way. Cars using Oak Forest may get behind a golf cart at 18 mph and even have to stop and let a car from the other direction come past because of a parked lawn man. If a car is coming south on Buena Vista, it would be much easier just to drive down at 35 mph to 466. The same thing goes for golf carts. With the congestion on Oak forest, that goes to a one lane if there is a parked car, why would anyone want to go that way if there is a shorter, safer and faster way?

When we first moved to The Villages, there was a vote to do something with the cart path. I saw signs that said it was the Developer's responsibility and so it was voted down. That sounds about like Congress. It really wasn't much money but it must have been the principle. It doesn't look like the Developer is going to do it and so it doesn't get done. Maybe it time to swallow the principle and face the facts that the path needs to be fixed like the paths south of 466. It would have been finished if the vote had gone through.

I also have heard rumors that the law suite between The Villages and the Developer includes an amount set aside for cart paths. I phoned our CDD chair and was told that is not true. I was told the entire amount is to pay down the cost of the Paradise Rec Center. Check your CDD people.

Originally Posted by bymar

I do not live on Oak Forest but I can see they are getting a bad wrap. The facts are that the people of Oak Forest went to the county commissioners to ask for help first with the speed and also the volume of traffic. No one from that street suggested anything and were as surprised as everyone else when the signs went up. I hope everyone hears this. They were as surprised as everyone else. The signs were the idea of the county commissioners, not the people of Oak Forest.

It's to bad that some spread rumors that the people that live there were responsible. Again, it is the county commissioners responsibility to provide safety to their citizens and they must have thought this was needed. I hope this correct news gets spread as quickly as the rumors.

There are a lot of streets that need help but most have golf cart lanes.

It is interesting that someone thinks Davenport is as busy as Oak Forest. I don't know how many think this but go and have the county commissioners do a study. Of course it doesn't matter what the study suggest, they are now afraid to do anything. Also, Davenport has a 15 mph speed limit!

For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would want to go down Oak Forest if there was another way. Cars using Oak Forest may get behind a golf cart at 18 mph and even have to stop and let a car from the other direction come past because of a parked lawn man. If a car is coming south on Buena Vista, it would be much easier just to drive down at 35 mph to 466. The same thing goes for golf carts. With the congestion on Oak forest, that goes to a one lane if there is a parked car, why would anyone want to go that way if there is a shorter, safer and faster way?

When we first moved to The Villages, there was a vote to do something with the cart path. I saw signs that said it was the Developer's responsibility and so it was voted down. That sounds about like Congress. It really wasn't much money but it must have been the principle. It doesn't look like the Developer is going to do it and so it doesn't get done. Maybe it time to swallow the principle and face the facts that the path needs to be fixed like the paths south of 466. It would have been finished if the vote had gone through.

I also have heard rumors that the law suite between The Villages and the Developer includes an amount set aside for cart paths. I phoned our CDD chair and was told that is not true. I was told the entire amount is to pay down the cost of the Paradise Rec Center. Check your CDD people.

Keep up the good work with the posts, bymar. :bigthumbsup:

[redwitch]

Bymar, if you don't live there, were you at the Commissioner's meetings when residents asked for help? I'm wondering how you know that Oak Forest residents didn't ask that traffic be banned on their street.

I do agree that Davenport doesn't get the automobile traffic that Oak Forest does, but I do think Addison/Davenport have as much, if not more, golf cart traffic. I don't use Oak Forest in my car. As you said, it makes no sense and, to me, is just plain DUMB. But I will take a golf cart down it rather than put up with the bumpy, narrow path down BV.

And I'm still not convinced that the residents of OF didn't ask that traffic be banned on their street, so I'm still ticked at them.

[bymar]

Redwitch:

I have good friends on Oak Forest and I know what the traffic is like and I did attend the meeting. If you won't take my word for it about them not asking for the street to be shut off, call some of the county commissioners. When they heard the stories of the people on Oak Forest, they authorized a study to see how much traffic there actually was. Because it was summer, they were going to interpolate the results with studies on Tally Ridge made during winter months. They evidentially discovered that, yes; there was a lot of traffic so they put up the signs. I can't say that the people on Oak Forest weren't elated because that certainly solves all the problems, but it was a surprise to the people I know and I know several. There have been several incidents have happened on Oak Forest, usually because of speed and careless drivers. I wonder sometimes if some of the cars are driven by people who don't even live in The Villages and come to work via Southern Trace and turn onto Oak Forest. Check the ages of many of the people and you will see.

Oh yes, there were suggestions at the meeting to increase police on the street to slow the traffic down.

Oak Forest is one of the few streets with that kind of traffic that doesn't have cart lanes. There are a few others and I feel for them also.

I had my cart worked on this week and the repairman said he doesn't park on Oak Forest. If he has a cart there he picks it up and takes it back to the shop. He also told me that, and I think I remember it right, San Marino Dr is another street that he does the same thing. I don't know if San Marino has a golf cart path or not. I'll check next time I take it.

I think we all need to work together to solve some of these problems. I really like The Villages and I am saddened that people have ill fillings about each other, especially when they are based on misunderstandings.

A good golf cart path would certainly help everything. I also think that education about auto traffic would help. Buena Vista to 466 in a car would really help.

[redwitch]

Thank you, Bymar. I'm more than happy to take your word for it. I just wanted to be sure that you actually had some facts for your comments.

It's a shame the commissioners couldn't come up with a realistic solution like, um, oh, speed bumps? I really can't imagine why a car would drive Oak Forest rather than BV (to avoid the light?). It certainly doesn't seem a bit shorter. As I said, for those using a golf cart, I do understand -- BV is miserable to drive on, especially if you're female and even more so if you're a well-endowed female (I'm not and I find it uncomfortable). So, until the golf cart path on BV is replaced, I'm afraid OF is stuck with us and the residents of OF have my sympathy and I'll go back to being nice and letting people out of their driveway so long as it is safe.

[Sidney Lanier]

Could I suggest that we let this rest instead of getting into anything like 'he said, she said.' It makes little difference if the Oak Forest residents requested those specific signs or if they just asked for some kind of examination of the traffic and relief, followed by the commissioners having the signs installed. I think the issue for residents of TV other than those on that one street--Oak Forest--is the precedent that was being set of making one street within TV into essentially a private street for use only by residents and their guests and service people. The end result is that the commissioners unanimously reversed their earlier decision, resulting in Oak Forest remaining a public street like all other streets in TV, and it's now up to law enforcement to ticket speeders or other violators....

[bymar]

Thanks to both Redwitch and Sidney. Let's see if we can get a decent cart path.

Originally Posted by bymar

Thanks to both Redwitch and Sidney. Let's see if we can get a decent cart path.

That's sounds like a reasonable alternative for getting people off of Oak Forest Drive. Improve the golf cart path on Buena Vista. I have heard that some people though avoid it also because it is rather twisty??

[Sidney Lanier]

I have never been on that golf cart parallel to BVB. What is the story with it? How bad is it? Is it not paved? Or is it too narrow for carts to pass each other? The closest I have been there is passing the opening into Oak Forest from Southern Trace and then taking the tunnel under BVB on my way to Saddlebrook, and I never even noticed the street....

[bymar]

Sidney. The answer to your questions is YES! It is the quality of the one on El Camino Real. Three years ago, when we arrived, there was a big discussion about what to do. The voters had three choices. To repair, replace or do nothing. We were to new to know what was going on. There were two assessments, one for repair and another for replacement, either amount didn't seem big to me and so we took the middle ground and voted for the repairs. There were posters all over the place saying the golf paths were the responsibility of the Developer and to vote no on the improvements. That's how the vote went. Nothing was done.

Well, the developer didn't do anything either and we are left with the same thing three years later, only now there is a new Wal-Mart and soon a Beals and a lot more traffic.

Perhaps it's time that the people give Oak Forest a break since the commissioners are probably afraid to do anything now and vote to replace the path.

Coming down Oak Forest this eve I see there are counting tubes across the street again. I have no idea what's up.

[Sidney Lanier]

Originally Posted by bymar

Perhaps it's time that the people give Oak Forest a break since the commissioners are probably afraid to do anything now and vote to replace the path.

That's why I suggested that it's time to give this topic a rest.... However, if it's within the power of the commissioners to "vote to replace the path" (I'm the one who's too new now to know how these matters are resolved), then maybe that's where the pressure needs to be put.