Some in Collier County are voicing safety concerns about new signage for a new bicycle crossing on Davis Boulevard, halfway between Santa Barbara Boulevard and Airport-Pulling Road.
The crosswalk serves the Rich King Memorial Greenway, and crosses Davis where the speed limit is 45 mph. The idea is, bicyclists and pedestrians press a button to activate flashing yellow lights under a yellow diamond-shaped pedestrian crossing sign.
"The problem is, the traffic doesn't really see those small signs," said Eric Starr, who lives in the Moon Lake community near the crossing. "They don't stop."
"It's extremely dangerous," he added. "Almost everyday, there's almost an accident here."
As a Fox 4 camera rolled, many cars flew right on through the crossing when a group of cyclists activated the light and tried to cross the traffic.
"They really don't understand this little light system that was put up for pedestrian crossing," said Mark Giangiacomo, one of the cyclists who had to wait for the traffic to clear before crossing Davis. "The safest way would be to put up traffic signals, because that's what the cars and the drivers are used to seeing."
Zach Burch, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, admits that the crossing signage is a new concept for Collier County. He said that it could be changed it if doesn't seem to be working out.
"We do sort of an evaluation," Burch said. "(We) look at any crash history, do some field observations, and then we'll determine whether it's working appropriately...whether we need to change any signage, anything like that."
