PERIL ON STATE ROAD 80 PLEA FOR SAFETY {HEADLINE2}
PERIL ON STATE ROAD 80 PLEA FOR SAFETY {HEADLINE2}
0 Comments | Palm Beach Post, Jul 28, 2010 | by JASON SCHULTZ
Ocie Mae Saulberry was returning to Pahokee from a bingo trip in West Palm Beach when she drove off the side of State Road 80, sinking into the canal that runs alongside it.
It took nearly a month for anyone to find the 40-year-old, still inside her Buick.
Since her death in March 2009, three other drivers have died in the canal along the same stretch of highway between 20-Mile Bend and Belle Glade. The most recent was 43-year-old Saintilio Leocal, who drove into the canal July 16 about a mile east of where Saulberry died.
That’s four deaths too many, say local leaders who want the state to install guardrails along the road.
But the Florida Department of Transportation says the roughly 18- mile stretch doesn’t meet state guidelines to require guardrails. That’s because the road has wide shoulders, and the canal is more than 60 feet from the travel lanes.
“What do you mean it doesn’t meet the guidelines?” asked Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria, one of the officials leading the push for guardrails. “The guidelines are that people are dying.”
FDOT officials said they do not know how many miles of state highway exist in the county or South Florida with canals but no guardrails. Department design engineer Howard Webb estimated it would cost about $116,000 per mile to install guardrails between the south side of the highway and the canal, or about $2.1 million for the entire stretch.
The problem is not limited to state highways. Drownings also occur along local roads that lack guardrails — for example, the Feb. 12 death of Scott Patrick Wilson after a collision with polo club founder John Goodman. Wellington maintains that stretch of Lake Worth Road, according to county traffic officials.
Saulberry’s cousin, Breyona Elijah, said that every time she drives to the Glades, she looks at the spot where her cousin died. When she heard about Leocal, the first thing she thought of was Saulberry’s death.
“Ocie was a good, very outgoing person,” Elijah said
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