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Rough road ready for repairs

By By DEBORAH BUCKHALTER, Floridan Staff Writer
Published: July 19, 2009

Speeders may set their teeth rattling soon if they don’t slow down on Reddoch Road and County Road 162.

On Tuesday, the Jackson County Commission voted to place rumble strips on Reddoch at its intersection with County Road 69, and on County Road 162 at its intersection with State Road 77.

Those plans got the go-ahead after county staff checked with the residents nearest those areas and heard no objections.

In other road-related news from Tuesday’s meeting, the commission set a public hearing for July 28 to consider a plan to abandon a portion of Iron Bridge Road. County staffers say the section, which lies between Maddox and Dry Creek roads, has been washed out for more than a year, and that no one has complained.

With the strip of road so rarely used but problematic, county Road and Bridge wants to remove it from the county’s sphere of responsibility.

The commission denied a request to close part of a different road Tuesday. The petition to shut down a section of Hansford Road in Cypress failed, after protests by several people who say they depend on it to avoid a 10-mile detour from their neighborhoods to points north.

The man who petitioned for the closure, Terry Richards, lives behind a sharp curve in the road. He said there have been several instances in which drivers lose control and enter his property as they try to navigate the angle.

The commissioners said they recognized there is a legitimate problem, and directed county engineer Larry Alvarez to draw up an improvement plan. That could include guard rails in the curve, or altering the road so it could be straightened to a degree and accommodate a stop sign.