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DOT
firm on keeping traffic poles
By
Kevin Wadlow Senior Staff Writer
kwadlow@keynoter.com
Neugent demands their removal but gets rebuffed
A
state project to monitor traffic along U.S. 1 could be declared
officially ugly by the Monroe County Commission.
A resolution to be considered at the board's Feb. 15 meeting in Key
Largo describes poles needed for the Intelligent Transportation System
as “an unsightly intrusion on the natural environment and aesthetic
features of the Keys.”
County Commissioner George Neugent is particularly offended by elements
of the $9.5 million network of signs and 36 large utility-style poles -
and is demanding they not only stop being installed, but that those
already installed be taken out of the ground.
“I
take great offense to this ongoing construction of visual pollution up
and down the Keys,” Neugent said Tuesday. “I think it's completely
unnecessary.”
The draft resolution asks the state Department of Transportation to
“consider eliminating most, if not all, of the poles” that carry cameras
and communications equipment.
DOT District Operations Director Gus Pego said the project has already
been scaled back because of local complaints, and that the remaining
elements are necessary.
“We're trying to help citizens, to help visitors, by keeping traffic
moving,” Pego said. “We're trying to look out for everybody.”
Pego said he could not comment on the Feb. 15 resolution because he has
not seen it.
“Our goal is to meet the needs of the public,” Pego said. “We're talking
about one pole every three or four miles. For a road of 125 miles,
that's really not that much.”
Similar ITS projects are being installed throughout Florida, intended to
monitor traffic flow. Information then can be flashed to motorists on
electronic signs.
Neugent said he has not heard local residents demanding an ITS system -
but he has heard plenty of complaints about the large Dynamic Message
Sign in Key Largo and the string of new poles along the Keys' only
highway.
“I have yet to hear anyone say anything positive all these signs and
poles,” Neugent said. “No one, except DOT, says I'm off-base. I don't
see any life-saving measure this facility provides that we can't live
without.”
Pego said DOT worked with the county to eliminate a number of message
signs and reduce the size of others (although the large Key Largo sign
at mile marker 106 will remain).
“The camera poles are a little different,” Pego said. “The system has to
be made rigid enough to survive a storm. Your own electrical system down
there was made massive enough to survive a storm.”
Poles also have to be tall enough to enable a wireless communication
system that links the network to function.
A proposal to place the cameras and communication system on existing
power poles was rejected for technical and legal reasons.
DOT said the Keys ITS system may be operational before hurricane season
begins June 1.
Said Neugent, “I don't know if they got Homeland Security money for this
or what, but this is the quickest I've ever seen DOT move. We argued
over the [18-Mile] Stretch for 30 years, but now it seems there's one of
these new poles going up ever other day.”
The poles reportedly range from 70 to more than 100 feet in height. |
