With the backing of District 5 Commissioner Barry and the Escambia County Commission, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will install a traffic signal in Molino at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 97. The installation is slated to begin in December at a cost of more than $250,000 paid for by Escambia County. Construction is expected to be complete by February 2015.
The heavily traveled and high speed roadways have seen many accidents in previous years, as well as multiple accidents within the last few days including one fatality. A Signal Warrant Study has found the following information supporting the urgency for a traffic signal:
- There have been 37 documented crashes reported by the Crash Analysis Reporting System from 2008 to 2013.
- 10 of the reported collisions resulted in injury where one or more people required transportation to a medical facility.
- 22 of the reported crashes were of the type of collisions susceptible to correction by the installation of a traffic signal.
- In 2011 there were five left-turn crashes.
- In 2012 there were eight left-turn crashes.
- In the last three years, the number of reported crashes at this intersection was significantly greater than the statistical average of similar roadway facilities in FDOT’s District 3, which is made up of the 16 westernmost Counties in the panhandle.
- Results from the delay analysis indicate that no excessive delay is being experienced at this time.
