Public Forum: U.S. 41 gridlock

41 traffic jam raises questions

Editor, the Banner: Accidents happen. The Great U.S. 41 Gridlock of Nov. 13-16 leaves issues that must be addressed.

Bridges, not just the Imperial River's on U.S. 41, but all, are lifelines few and vital. Jobs, shopping, commuting were severely impacted. Issues of fire and rescue access were shut down could have cost lives. Luckily, "high season" and storm season evacuation were not major factors. Try winding through local, county and state agencies to find accountability for monitoring projects, regular inspections, pro-active upgrades. "Not my job," they say; "no funding."

This was a catastrophic traffic event. At its worst, after dusk on Thursday, there were no flashing sign boards in medians warning "U.S. 41 Closed." There were no Collier County deputies or Florida troopers directing traffic to detours miles ahead of trouble. Motorists were on their own to find median cuts for their U-turns. Alternate routes, Terry Street, Old 41 and Vanderbilt Drive found clogged confusion with zero support by road officers hours after sunset.

Collier's Sheriff Don Hunter mobilized an army of resources on the (false) report that Middle East medical students had crashed the I-75 toll gate. We never learned the final cost of that event. Awash with Homeland Security monies, Hunter has been criticized for gross overtime pay to some six-digit deputies.

Where were they when you were trapped in U.S. 41's nightmare event?

More could have been done to help

Editor, the Banner: I am concerned about the traffic holdup in Bonita on Nov. 20. I am not blaming the police for causing the problem that led to my sitting in traffic for two hours Thursday between entering, at about 5:35 p.m., Old 41 at the light north of Terry Street and turning south onto Old 41 at about 7:35 p.m. I am blaming them and their lack of concern for the citizens of Bonita.

In these vehicles were children, one was a bus full, people with children waiting to be picked up at some location or at home frightened, etc. There were some of us with medical problems requiring medication that we feared was running out and a bit concerned since we had no idea what had happened or was happening.

Instead of taking an hour to get to the light at West Terry only to find that we were not able to continue southbound on U.S. 41, traffic could have turned left or made a U-turn north almost immediately upon entering U.S. 41. A simple scrawled message on a large piece of paper, a bull horn, or just a loud mouth could have alerted southbound drivers to not wait for an hour to go a half mile only to be diverted into another hour "ride" east in order to turn south.

But no, the police did not consider it necessary to inform the drivers that we could not go south beyond Terry and could just sit there for the rest of the night as far as they were concerned (or not concerned, I should say).

Ironically, just the night before, I received the usual call from a police unit asking for "support" of their club. I would like to see some support from the police in a situation such as this one. Someone said they need to be "trained" for a special situation. I say it is common sense, common courtesy and just plain caring about their "supporters" that they or anyone needs to do the right thing in any situation.

Perhaps their motto is "Don't call me; I will call you" for support.