CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Citrus County commissioners say they’re in search of methods to higher put together for the push of visitors throughout storm evacuations.
Residents say that when there isn’t any visitors, it is extremely straightforward to drive up Suncoast Parkway. However, relying on the time of 12 months or the time of day, enterprise proprietor John Updyke says it may be a totally completely different state of affairs.
“It is a type of issues the place the visitors is heavier,” he mentioned.
His enterprise, Uncle John’s Carpentry, is correct on State Route 44, which is the primary artery that Suncoast Parkway empties into.
“It is elevated because the parkway opened,” mentioned Updyke, who famous that in a hurricane that type of congestion is the very last thing you wish to see.
“It is a bottleneck,” he mentioned.
That is why Citrus County commissioners say they wish to be proactive earlier than the following large storm.
“Proper now, roughly, we’re at a useless finish,” Commissioner Rebecca Bays mentioned.
Bays and the opposite commissioners are asking the state to do a research to find out the place drivers are coming from once they journey down the parkway.
She mentioned she needs to know what county leaders can do throughout emergencies that trigger many individuals to make use of Suncoast Parkway to evacuate to safer places.
“That is one thing I am very captivated with, we’ve to maneuver ahead as a result of the state’s drawback is our drawback,” Bays mentioned. “Irrespective of how we wish to have a look at it, this visitors is our drawback.”
Throughout a current assembly of commissioners, Bays shared his considerations in regards to the freeway community within the county, saying he hopes a research like this one will maintain them forward of the sport.
The research is one thing that residents and enterprise homeowners like Updyke help, even when it means taking drastic measures to the encircling panorama.
“Because the inhabitants grows, there’s a better demand for bigger roads to deal with the extra individuals,” he mentioned.
He mentioned that in Hurricane Ian, there was a rise within the visitors of individuals in search of shelter away from Tampa Bay, the place the storm was projected to make landfall earlier than turning towards Fort Myers.
“There was extra visitors and every part else round right here,” Updyke mentioned.
That is why Citrus County commissioners say they voted to ask the state to assist conduct a research to ensure visitors throughout emergencies is not a difficulty individuals want to fret about.
Bays mentioned county leaders would love to have the ability to ping the IP addresses of individuals coming into the county to see which areas use the parkway essentially the most to allow them to proactively plan for a mass exodus of individuals throughout a hurricane or different emergency. .
Commissioners mentioned they’re additionally wanting into the opportunity of implementing a multi-use constructing for use as an evacuation shelter if individuals arrive within the county throughout a storm.