Watch out for shifty median at the intersection of U.S. 17 and 92

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Aug 16, 2008 - 2:22:43pm

Wayne Allen of DeLeon Springs was an unhappy man the rainy night of Aug. 13. His daughter, Jonica was tearful, and the rim on a family car was bent.

Allen had met his wife, Alita, and daughter Jonica for dinner at a restaurant on North Woodland Boulevard.

They headed home: Wayne on his motorcycle, and Jonica and Alita in the car, with 18-year-old Jonica driving.

Wayne got home and put his cell phone on the charger. After a little while, he got concerned because Jonica and Alita hadn't returned yet. Then they came in.

They had been delayed because of a minor accident. Jonica was driving northbound in the inside lane of U.S. North Highway 17, or North Woodland Boulevard.

When she drove through the intersection where U.S. Highway 92 turns right and U.S. 17 continues north, Jonica realized — too late in the rain and darkness — the median strip on the north side of the intersection had been moved east a few feet.

The car's wheel hit the concrete median, bending the rim and flattening the tire. A hub cap rolled off into the darkness.

Wayne Allen went back to DeLand to check it out. The intersection looked unsafe, he decided. The relocated median was not marked and was difficult to see. Wayne almost hit it, himself, he said.

Allen put in calls to Florida Highway Patrol, then to DeLand Police Department.

He watched traffic for a while.

"I saw a red car hit it. It kept going," Allen said.

That car caught the edge of the median, apparently with no damage.

When DeLand Officer Jason Weiss arrived, the two men watched the intersection, and another cat hit the concrete median.

In police log, Weiss noted, "median offset due to construction."

Weiss moved three of the orange-and-white construction barrels in front of the median, to make sure other cars didn't hit it.

The next morning, Wayne Allen called the Florida Department of Transportation office in DeLand. He told the woman who answered the phone about the intersection and the damage to his car. She suggested he call his auto insurance company.

Allen didn't think he or his insurance company should pay. Moreover, he said, he wanted to see the situation corrected.

The Department of Transportation sent a claim form to Wayne Allen.

Terry Simpson, project administrator for H.W. Lochner of Orlando, who is directing the road work, said the off-alignment of lanes is temporary. As work is completed widening the northbound lane, those lanes will be straightened out. Workers are also widening the southbound lanes.

He said there had been barrels in place to divert traffic around the median. He didn't know if someone had moved them, or if the wind had blown them. Simpson said he would make sure barrels or other markers stay in place to alert drivers of the new median location, until the alignment is re-established. A reflector sign will be shifted to alert drivers of the median's placement, as well.

Simpson said he has talked to Wayne Allen about the intersection.

"We're going to redouble our efforts, and get the job done," Simpson said, adding road work "always has an adverse impact on traffic."

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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