Highway 64 is a major road for the residents of Manatee County. Over the last 3 years the Florida Department of Transportation has recorded numerous accidents at the entrance to Greyhawk Subdivision, turning off or onto Pope Rd., and at the Rye Rd. intersection. Serveral of these incidents were fatalities. Initially residents asked for a traffic light to be installed at both the intersection of Rye Rd. and at the entrance of Greyhawk subdivision. After continued incidents a temporary traffic light was installed at the Rye Rd. intersection which has successfully lowered the number of traffic accidents. Modifications were made at the Pope Rd./Greyhawk Subdivision intersection to limit left hand turns, which included a change to the turn lanes off of Hwy. 64. The modification on Hwy. 64 has created a massive blind spot for motorists traveling west on Hwy. 64 making a left onto Pope Rd.
On Saturday September 15th 2018 the students of Lakewood Ranch High School lost two classmates, Matthew Powers (Class of 2021) , and Chase Coyner (Class of 2019) as they made their way to the LRHS Homecoming Dance. While this is just the latest incident, it hits very close to home for the students of LRHS.
It's time for the Florida Department of Transportation and Manatee County to fix this problem! We should not have to continue losing lives because of a poorly created infrastructure. The state needs to complete the construction of White Eagle Blvd. and either install a permanent traffic light at that intersection, or, the highly controversial traffic circle. When this occurs, Pope Rd. should be closed to through traffic. While this will help Pope Rd., it does not solve the concerns of residents of Greyhawk Subdivision entering a highway where motorists are driving 50+ MPH. The second solution, would be to install a traffic light at the intersection of Greyhawk Subdivision and Pope Rd. This will result in a mechanism to allow residents to safely turn into and exit from both Greyhawk Subdivision and Pope Rd.
Please do not let this continue. The lives of Manatee County residents are more important than any argument you can create on this.
