Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Road Safety State Road 20 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges action on State Road 20 truck traffic and crashes in Palatka neighborhood
Summary
A Palatka resident told the Putnam County State Road Safety Task Force that a two‑lane, three‑mile stretch of State Road 20 sees heavy truck traffic and frequent crashes; she urged enforcement of a city truck‑route ordinance and more DOT attention.
A Palatka resident told the Putnam County State Road Safety Task Force that a two‑lane stretch of State Road 20 that runs through a residential area is experiencing heavy truck traffic, frequent crashes and danger to pedestrians, and she urged county and city officials to enforce an existing truck‑route ordinance.
Lynn Roberson, a Palatka resident who said she moved to the neighborhood five years ago, told the task force she collected a petition of about 300 signatures asking local officials to address traffic on State Road 20. She said a traffic survey from 2017 showed roughly 10,000 vehicles a day on the three‑mile section and that DOT traffic counts and enforcement have not reduced dangerous driving in the corridor.
Roberson described daily collisions, near misses and heavy vehicles passing through a historic, residential neighborhood. “When you have an accident…there is a complete jam of insanity. It is so dangerous,” she told the task force. She urged enforcement of Palatka’s 2003 truck‑route ordinance, which she said is not being applied consistently.
Officials on the task force acknowledged the complaint and said they would work with DOT and city staff to identify options. Chair Leota Wilkinson said the task force will consider other county roads as part of its broader work; she and other officials noted similar enforcement and engineering constraints when state highways run through built neighborhoods, including limited shoulders and narrow right‑of‑way in places.
Roberson asked DOT staff to ride the corridor and to consider traffic calming and enforcement options; committee members said they would raise the concern with FDOT and ask staff to report back with potential short‑term measures and longer‑range options that could include reclassification or routing changes.
The meeting produced no immediate enforcement action on State Road 20, but staff said they would pursue coordination with FDOT and the City of Palatka to see what steps — enforcement, signage, or routing/engineering changes — could be implemented and whether the truck‑route ordinance can be more actively enforced.
