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County commission chair urges action after fatalities; task force to focus on Highway 100 safety
Summary
Putnam County commissioners and the school board discussed Highway 100 safety after recent fatal crashes; county commission chair Leota Wilkinson described meetings with FDOT and formation of a State Road Safety Task Force focused on short‑term fixes and long‑term plans.
Putnam County Commission Chairwoman Leota Wilkinson told the Putnam County School Board that officials are pressing state officials for short‑term and long‑term improvements on State Road 100 after multiple recent fatalities on the corridor.
Wilkinson said the county, the sheriff’s office and the school board produced a joint letter asking FDOT to study expansion to four lanes while also pursuing short‑term measures such as creation of passing lanes and center‑lane barriers, and enhanced Florida Highway Patrol enforcement during peak school travel times. “Putnam County is the fifth most dangerous county for drivers in The United States,” Wilkinson said, citing national fatal‑crash statistics compiled through 2021 and state data reported by media outlets.
Wilkinson described meetings in Tallahassee with FDOT leadership and said the agency agreed to increased patrol presence and to hold a joint public meeting involving FDOT and local officials. She said one particularly dangerous stretch, between Barton Road/309D and Caraway, shows four times the fatalities of other segments along the 18.8‑mile corridor from SR‑216 to the county line.
The county has created a State Road Safety Task Force with 11 voting members: the county administrator; chair of the county commission (Wilkinson); an appointed school board representative (Wilkinson asked the school board to consider Chair Phil Leary); the sheriff or a designee; the fire‑rescue chief; the county’s public safety staff and five citizen appointees chosen by county commissioners. Wilkinson said the task force will hold public meetings to coordinate requests to FDOT and prioritize safety measures on Highway 100 and other state roads in the county.
Wilkinson said state legislators and agency staff showed willingness to discuss the concerns and that FHP increased enforcement on the corridor after the delegation’s visit. She also raised funding questions, including the county’s interest in shifting some DOT landscaping allocations toward safety improvements in rural areas.
Board members thanked Wilkinson for the update and expressed support for continued coordination. Wilkinson said meetings will be open to the public and that staff from the commission and school district will support the task force process.
