Deadly Curve To Get New Warning Signs

ISTACHATTA - Nearly 70 percent of the crashes on the main route through Istachatta involved motorists leaving the road. A majority occurred on a tricky curve that killed a motorcyclist three weeks ago.

That's among the findings of a report compiled by the county engineering office that explored the traffic history of Lingle Road and how to make it safer.

They focused their attention on a tricky double curve between the Magnon Road intersection and the Istachatta General Store. Staff concluded that two new diamond-shaped yellow warning signs should be erected as motorists enter the turn; flexible plastic poles with reflectors on top will be placed along the length of the curve.

Work should begin next week.

Extra signage is expected to cut back on the traffic crash rate, which, officially, stands at 16 wrecks from 2005 to the present. However, the report notes that many of the minor wrecks go unreported.

The rural scenery and winding roads of north Hernando County attract motorcyclists from around the state. Motorcyclists accounted for 44 percent of the wrecks.

On May 31, a 27-year-old Clearwater man, Eric T. Boyd, lost control of his motorcycle on that curve, crashed and died.

The fatality has apparently spread awareness of the dangerous curve because it's been quiet in the past weeks, said Joyce Bean, who leaves nearby. "Hopefully, (with the signs), it'll be all better," she said.

The focus of the study was not just the dangerous curve, but the length of Lingle Road to the Citrus County border. The signs along that way are "showing age and weathering" and need updating at the southbound approach to the forked intersection at Lake Lindsey Road; the curve at Peterson Camp Road; and the narrowing pavement leading into Citrus County, the report states.

Future improvements include a study of the speed limits along that road and the volume of traffic.