Shady Hills resident urges Pasco MPO to prioritize safety improvements after recent crashes

Pastor Jen Kerouac of Shady Hills Mission Chapel addressed the Pasco County MPO during public comment on June 25, urging the board to consider safety improvements on Shady Hills Road. Kerouac said the two‑lane road is congested, has heavy development along it and serves four schools, including Shady Hills Elementary, which dates to 1974.

"I'm just asking that you, consider, sincerely consider, and the improvement of Shady Hills Road," Kerouac said. She told the board that she brought photographs and described a sequence of four accidents that occurred within about 45 minutes at locations near Cruz Lake Middle School; one incident involved a downed power line and a resulting road closure that obstructed emergency access. Kerouac added that an 18‑year‑old rider on a dirt bike died from injuries after being struck when two motorists misread each other's signals at an intersection.

Kerouac also described a local culture of riding dirt bikes and all‑terrain vehicles in the rural area, and she framed the issue as a public‑safety concern for residents and schoolchildren. "It's really a matter of safety, for the residents of the area, the kids going to the schools," she said.

Kerouac concluded by asking the board to "take a good hard look at the improvements needed for Shady Hills Road." The board did not take formal action on the comment during the meeting; staff and board members later discussed during other agenda items how future micromobility or safety monitoring could include school‑time collection windows if the board requests it.