A Villager whose neighbor was killed in a collision in a golf cart earlier this year on Morse Boulevard has collected more than 1,000 signatures calling for change on the busy thoroughfare.
Sherrie Hyer plans to present her petition to the Sumter County Board of Commissioners at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Colony Cottage Recreation Center.
She was spurred into action after 85-year-old Francis Cradock “Buck” Hughes was killed Jan. 13 after he turned in front of a van going the opposite direction on Morse Boulevard. While she concedes that Hughes turned in front of the van, she said the atmosphere on that section of Morse Boulevard fosters a culture of speeding and risk-taking.
“As soon as they come through that gate (at Morse Boulevard and County Rod 466) it’s like the Daytona 500,” Hyer said.
She began collecting signatures in her De La Vista neighborhood after Hughes’ death.
She is asking commissioners to consider her request to:
• Reduce the speed limit
• Add another traffic signal somewhere
• Install traffic cameras
• Move the golf cart path off of Morse Boulevard
• Install a turn lane in the middle of Morse Boulevard
• Post more signs
• Construct a bypass highway between U.S. Hwy. 27/441 and County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard and Buena Vista Boulevard.
“We need help and we are begin county and state leaders to take action before anymore citizens are killed or seriously injured. Come and live with us for a day and see how threatened we are whether we are driving a golf cart or an automobile,” she said.
