The Light is Coming Soon!

by Mimi Sheffer

Residents of the Parrish community have been asking the county and FDOT for 10 years to have a stop light installed at US 301 and CR 675. After the deaths of two people in that intersection in less that 7 months, the Parrish Civic Association took action to immediately address the issue and lobby our local commissioners to make immediate changes to ensure a fully-functional red light will be installed. FDOT will begin construction on the light on March 2nd and the project is expected to take 4-6 weeks at a cost of $740,000. In addition to the installation of the light, the contractors will be doing other work, including the installation of lighting at the intersection, widening the northwest quadrant to improve the turn radius and creating pedestrian crosswalks and signals. Residents should expect some lane closures during the construction process but no lane closures will happen between the hours of 6-9 am or 4-7 pm. Drivers are asked to drive more slowly in this area and to proceed with caution.